All Good Things__ - Michael Jan Friedman [64]
How had he gotten here? He scratched at his bearded chin. The last thing he remembered in this era was.,.
Oh, yes. Back on the bridge. Beverly had used a hypospray on him. And he was only now waking up. Sitting up, he swiveled his legs over and got out of bed. Noting a familiar-looking control on a nearby table, he tapped it.
“Computer,” he said, “where’s Admiral Riker?”
“Admiral Riker is in Ten-Forward,” came the response.
Picard harrumphed and headed for the door. In the other two time periods, he was moving toward a solution to the problem posed by the anomaly. He was determined that, no matter what it took, this time period would be no different.
CHAPTER
Z2
Admiral Will Riker glanced over his shoulder at a table on the other end of Ten-Forward, where Geordi and Worf were sitting together. Then, he looked back to Beverly and Data, with whom he was sharing this table.
He had tried to make his glance as casual as possible. Unfortunately, Beverly knew him too well to believe it. “Spying on the enemy?” she asked sarcastically. Riker grunted. “In a manner of speaking.”
“Will,” said the doctor, “how long is this thing between you and Worf going to go on?”
He shrugged. “It’s been going on for twenty years now. And it doesn’t look like it’s going to end any time soon.”
“I suspect the last thing Counselor Troi would have wanted is for the two of you to be alienated from one another,” Data remarked.
“I agree,” Dr. Crusher put in. “It’s time to put this behind you.” “I tried, at Deanna’s funeral,” Riker replied sadly. He recalled that tragic day. “He wouldn’t talk to me.”
“Might have been tough for him then,” Geordi suggested. “He took her death pretty hard.”
“Year?” Riker said, his voice sharper than he would have liked. “Well, he wasn’t the only one.” He saw Dr. Crusher’s deep-set eyes lock straight onto his.
“I know,” the doctor said, “but in his mind… you were the reason he and Deanna never got together.”
“I didn’t do anything to stand in their way,” Riker answered, his natural defensiveness coming forward.
The doctor’s bright eyes still held him. “Didn’t you, Will?” she asked softly.
“Did I?” he answered, as if asking himself a question. “I just… never could admit it was over. I kept thinking one day we’d get together again… and then she was gone.” Riker stopped, took a deep, sad, breath. “You think you’ve got all the time in the world, until…” His voice and his thoughts drifted off.
He recalled the last time he had seen Worf. It was on Betazed, at a place called Lake Cataria… where the sky was such a deep violet-blue it hurt one’s eyes to look at it, and the breeze from the mountains carried the scent of something strangely like chocolate.
It was a perfect day—the kind that made one wish there would never be an end to it. The breeze was warm there, but not too warm. And the water of the lake sparkled like liquid gold in the burnished sunshineú
They had all gathered by the sandy western shore— Riker and the Klingon, the captain and Beverly, Geordi and Data. It was where they would say their farewells to the woman who had been their friend and confidante ú.. their comrade and advisor.
Lwaxana, on whom age and sorrow and loss were at last taking their toll, had made her apologies through her giant of a servant. She would not come to the public ceremony. Unable to bear the sorrow of seeing them all again, she would do her mourning in private.
Betazoid custom called for a wooden funeral platform, on which the deceased could be viewed in a transparent case. In this instance, the platform was empty, since there was nothing left of the deceased to inter.
A friend of the family led them in the traditional funeral chants, much of which was snatched away by the wind. And when the time came to speak of her, he did so , out loud, because they were offworlders and not telepaths.
Mostly, he spoke of Deanna’s courage—and how, though the bounty of her heart brought great joy to those around her, it also made her vulnerable to those whose hearts were full of bitterness. In the end, he said, that vulnerability