Death in Winter - Michael Jan Friedman [104]
As Picard watched, the two doctors assumed their places on the platform. Then they were enveloped in columns of light, and gradually faded away.
“And there they go,” said Joseph.
The captain nodded, staring at the emptiness.
“Come on,” said his old friend. “I’ll buy you a drink. Nothing alcoholic, mind you. I’m supposed to be past all that.”
Picard wished he could have enjoyed the jest a bit more. Silently, he allowed Joseph to lead him out of the transporter room.
Geordi turned to Worf, as they stood there before the platform in Transporter Room One, and said, “Remember what Joseph told us.”
The Klingon quoted the message they had received only minutes earlier: ” ‘Be careful with the captain. He is still a little shaken up.’ However, he did not say by what.”
“Maybe,” said Geordi, “he felt that was none of our business.”
Worf made a sound of disdain. “If it is his business, it is ours as well.”
The engineer felt the same way, of course. But before he could reply, a pillar of light planted itself squarely on the transporter platform.
It took a few seconds for something to take shape in the glow. But then, cargo haulers weren’t known for their state-of-the-art transporter equipment.
Finally the column of light began to fade, and Geordi got a better look at the transport subject. The fellow looked familiar, though at the moment he was uncharacteristically out of uniform.
Stepping down from the platform, Picard looked at Worf and then Geordi, and said, “Don’t tell me you have nothing better to do than supervise transporter operations.”
The engineer smiled. “Some transporter operations are more important than others.”
“Welcome back, sir,” said Worf.
Picard smiled. “Thank you, Commander.” Then, herding his officers along as he made for the exit, he said, “Tell me how the repairs are going.”
Geordi was surprised, if pleasantly so. This wasn’t at all the man Joseph had warned them about.
“Pretty well, sir,” said the engineer. “There was some trouble with the plasma manifolds, but I think we’ve worked it out.”
The captain nodded. “Excellent. What about the shield emitters?”
The spacedock crews had just begun to install them when Picard was called away on his mission-which Geordi still didn’t know much about. However, he was sure he would hear about it before long.
“All the forward emitters and a couple of the aft emitters are operational,” he said. “It’ll be another few days before we get the rest of them online.”
“Is the bridge in any shape yet?” Picard asked.
“Not exactly,” said Worf. “The chairs still are not in yet.”
“What, if I may ask, is the holdup?”
The Klingon scowled. “They sent us the wrong ones. However, they have taken them back.”
“And,” said Geordi, as they emerged into the corridor, “they tell me the right ones are on their way.”
Picard sighed. “They always say that.”
The engineer chuckled. “Yes, sir, they do.”
“By the way, sir,” said Worf, casting a glance at Geordi, “we received a visit from Admiral Janeway. She wanted to see for herself how the retrofit was proceeding.”
The captain looked surprised. “It is rather unusual for an admiral to visit drydock. But then, Janeway is an unusual admiral.”
“Right,” said Geordi, hoping the subject could be brought to a close without any mention of their aborted rescue party.
“And,” asked Picard, “what about the plasma manifolds?”
Geordi looked at him. “We went over that a moment ago, sir. You remember I said there was a problem with them?”
A shadow seemed to pass over the captain’s face. “So you did. My apologies. It appears I will need a little time to… decompress.”
In the engineer’s memory, the captain had needed that only a couple of times before. But that was after he had been turned into a Borg, or tortured by a Cardassian gul.
It told Geordi that Joseph had known what he was talking about. And it made him wonder what had thrown Picard off his game, despite his attempt to cover