Death in Winter - Michael Jan Friedman [30]
It is just a matter of time….
Worf shook his massive head and rumbled, “I do not like it.”
Geordi considered the Enterprise-E’s newly refurbished mess hall, with its free-form seating arrangements and its long, narrow observation ports. Somehow, the place had looked better in the blueprint stages.
“It’ll take some getting used to,” the engineer conceded. “But after a while, we’ll probably forget it was ever- “
Worf turned to him, his dark eyes narrowing beneath his brooding ledge of a brow. “I am not talking about the interior decoration. I am speaking of Doctor Crusher.”
Geordi felt as if a weight had been placed on his shoulders-or rather re placed. “Right.”
Ever since the captain told them about the doctor’s disappearance, the engineer had done his grudging best to put his concerns about his friend aside. After all, he had a duty to make sure the ship was outfitted correctly. A single oversight could cost a crewman his life some day.
He couldn’t do anything about Doctor Crusher. However, he could make sure the Enterprise-E was everything it needed to be.
Worf, on the other hand, wasn’t an engineer. He didn’t have as many critical decisions on his hands, which left his mind free to dwell on Beverly’s plight.
“The captain should never have gone after her without us,” the Klingon insisted, his voice echoing raucously throughout the mess hall.
“He didn’t have a say in the matter,” Geordi noted calmly. “Apparently, Starfleet Command was pretty clear about that.”
Worf’s lip curled in disgust. “Every last official at Starfleet Command should be dipped in honey and spread-eagled naked on a mound of fire ants.”
Geordi was tempted to agree. He and his colleagues from the Enterprise-E were still a family, no matter what anyone thought. Data might be gone and the rest of them might have been dispersed to the four corners of the galaxy, but that didn’t mean they cared any less about each other.
If Beverly had gone incommunicado in the midst of a clandestine mission, it wasn’t the captain’s business alone. Geordi and Worf should have been brought in on the matter, and their friends on the Starship Titan as well.
Worf made a sound of exasperation. “We do not even know the nature of Doctor Crusher’s mission.”
In recent years, Captain Picard had shared everything with them. But all he said this time was that Beverly was missing in action, and that he had been asked to lend a hand. Then he boarded a shuttle for parts unknown.
“What if the captain goes missing as well?” Worf asked. “Will they send us then?”
Geordi turned to an observation port and peered out at the stars. “I’d feel better if I just knew where she was.”
“You would not feel better,” Worf shot back. “Because if you knew her whereabouts, you would be tempted to join the captain and provide assistance.”
“Me?” said the engineer, turning to look back over his shoulder. “What about you?”
Worf lifted his bearded chin. “I learned much in serving as a diplomat. Restraint, for example.”
Geordi looked at his friend askance. “So if you knew where Doctor Crusher and the captain were, you wouldn’t go charging in after them?”
Worf’s eyes smoldered. “I said that I had learned restraint, not cowardice. Knowing what I know now, I would take a moment to learn about the situation at hand-to immerse myself in its complexities, to appreciate the motivations of all involved. Then I would go charging in.”
Geordi couldn’t help smiling a little. His friend really had learned something in his stint as a diplomat.
“The question,” said Worf, “is whether you would follow your impulses and accompany me.”
The engineer felt an unexpected chill climb his spine. “We’re still talking about the hypothetical here, aren’t we?”
Worf’s brow furrowed. “I do not know. Are we?”
Geordi looked askance at his friend. “You mean you’d go after the captain? For real?”
The Klingon hesitated for a moment-but just a moment. “Given the opportunity, yes.”
“Come on,” said Geordi, trying to inject some reason