All Good Things__ - Michael Jan Friedman [76]
Riker smiled at her. “My pleasure.”
Crusher saw Worf glance at the counselor, then at the first officer. There was no need to speak the words that went with his sentiments. At least, not right now.
“Four-handed poker?” asked Troi, breaking the silence. She looked up again at Riker. “Can I convince you to sit down again?”
The first officer shook his head. “I think I’ve worn out my welcome. Deal me out for a couple of hands and I might reconsider.”… She turned to Crusher. “Bey?”
The doctor held up a hand. “Not me,” she declined. “I took enough of a beating before you got here.” The chimes sounded again. “Come,” said Riker.
Crusher couldn’t guess who else might want to join the game. All the regulars were already here.
As a result, she was quite surprised when she saw the captain standing there in the corridor. Everyone sat up at attention as he entered.
The first o~cer looked concerned. “Sir—is there a problem?”
Picard shook his head. “No, no problem at all. I just thought I might… join you this evening. That is, if there’s room…” Glances were exchanged. And smiles.
“There’s plenty of room,” said Riker, speaking for all of them. “In fact, it looks to me like there’s a seat next to Data… the one Dr. Crusher just abandoned.”
The captain looked at his chief medical officer. “A run of bad luck?” he asked politely.
She shrugged. “Maybe it’ll change,” she hoped out loud.
As Picard sat down, the android gave him the deck of cards. “Would you care to deal, sir?”
The captain seemed pleased. “Oh… thank you.” He started to shuffle the cards. “You know, I should have done this a long time ago. I was quite a cardplayer in my youth, you know.”
Troi leaned forward slightly. “You were always welcome here, sir.”
He nodded. “Yes,” he said. “I know.”
Crusher could see that his experience had left him with a new appreciation for life… and for people. Especially these people, who were more like a family to him than a collection of colleagues.
“Sometimes,” Picard went on, “you lose sight of the things that are truly important. I hope I won’t make that mistake again.”
As he glanced at each of them in tarn, the doctor could see the brightness in his eyes that betrayed his feelings for them. And also, perhaps, for a certain blond security officer who was no longer with them. Then, a little embarrassed, he began dealing the cards.
“So,” he said, regaining command of himself. “Five-card stud, nothing wild. The sky’s the limit.”
Crusher looked at him… and still couldn’t help but wonder. Would she and the captain marry one day? And if they did, would it end in divorce, as in the timeline he had experienced?
Would Picard fall victim to Irumodic syndrome—or escape it? Would he remain in Starfleet, or go back to Earth to become a vintner?
Would Troi and Worf fall in love, as it appeared they would? And if they did, what would come of it?
Would the Romulan Empire fall? Would a rift form between the Federation and the Kllngons? What role would the manipulative Cardassians play? The Tholians? The Ferengi?
And so on. There were any number of questions, none of which could accurately be answered without a crystal ball. And it was just as well, wasn’t it?
Because none of them really wanted to know the future. Each one of them wanted the chance to mold it, for better or worse, in his or her own two hands. That was the way it had always been, since the birth of man. And though she couldn’t deny her curiosity, she was glad that was the way it would continue to be… At least, for a while.
Q had never been a one-eyed jack before. As it happened, he rather liked it, particularly because it gave him a jack’s-eye view of his favorite human sparring panner.
Picard was frowning at hiramand not because he knew that Q was posing as a card in his hand. The problem was, the other four cards were all clubs, and Q was the jack of hearts.
No doubt the captain would be discarding him at his earliest opportunity. Casting him off like a used dishrag. Tossing him in the huge, echoing wastebasket of life.
But that was all right. Q could always