Gulliver's Fugitives - Keith Sharee [5]
But there were friends present, too. Much further away. Their minds were like a distant cluster of candles, glowing and familiar. The Enterprise.
As she became aware of her distant crewmates, they seemed to draw nearer in response. Their distance was connected to her will.
She suddenly realized she could go back. Some part of her had never even left the ship.
She concentrated on the Enterprise, focused all her will on it and her friends within it. After a desperate, agonizing effort, her surroundings seemed to fade. For a moment she was in two places at once—frozen before the Mirror Man on the dark causeway and sitting in her cabin on the Enterprise.
It took all the strength she could muster to bring herself all the way back into her familiar universe.
When it was over, she was exhausted, bedraggled, and covered with a film of sweat. And she was back in her chair in front of her computer.
Chapter Three
CAPTAIN JEAN-LUC PICARD listened to the counselor conclude her account.
Her dark eyes seemed to stare right past him. A rebellious lock of black hair snaked away from its companions. Her skin, normally a light tan, seemed translucently pale. To Picard, her appearance increased the phantasmal effect of her story.
“They’re real,” she said. “I still feel their presence close to the ship—but it’s as if they’re in a universe or dimension different than ours. It’s hard to describe the feeling.”
“There has been no further contact?”
“No. But I can feel them waiting. They want something of me. They want to put me through that transformation they started, that sort of … death or petrification.”
“Have you seen Dr. Crusher yet?”
“Captain, I didn’t hallucinate them. They aren’t a delusion.”
“I don’t say they’re delusory. You would know what they are as well as anyone on this ship. Or better. I just want to make sure you’re not injured.”
“I haven’t seen her, but I will as soon as I leave here.”
“Good,” said Picard. He ran his hand over the smooth top of his head and down through the short gray hair that ringed it.
“Have you any ideas about why you were singled out for contact by these beings?”
He noticed that she relaxed a notch. Good, he thought, she sees I’m accepting her account on her own terms.
“Actually, one of them—I call them the Other-worlders—implied I initiated the contact. And I sense that they are waiting for me to do it again, but I don’t know what it was I did! I can’t remember anything about it, so how can I keep from repeating it? My amnesia seems to obscure everything I did today, leading up to the moment of contact. There may be some special connection between us, though. They already know a lot about my personal life.”
“Have you checked for any records of your activities just before the contact?”
“I’m planning to check the computer.”
“Excellent place to start. You have a question?”
“Well, I don’t think I can do much counseling until I feel safe from these beings, these Other-worlders. I’m sorry to ask to be excused like this.”
“Counselor, you have nothing to apologize for. Contacting new forms of life is our mission. It is why you and I are here on the Enterprise. We are stopping the ship right here, and we aren’t going to budge until I know who and what these beings are. I’ll be with you whenever you need me. And I’ll have the ship’s computer keep track of your vital signs. If you’re under stress or feel threatened, the computer will tell us and we’ll find you, even if you can’t call for help yourself.”
Some of the warmth returned to Troi’s eyes. “Thank you, Captain,” she said softly.
“I’ll tell the doctor you’re coming,” he said, looking away. His hazel eyes found the window and the starfield beyond it.
Troi got up and left, and Picard was alone in his ready room. He realized he could have been a bit less distant at the end. Maybe he really did need to work with Troi on learning to feel more emotion, or show it more