Possession - J.M. Dillard [14]
“She’s also working with Dr. Tarmud on some of his current research,” La Forge advised the Captain.
“Really?” Picard said, no doubt surprised that his chief engineer was that up-to-date on this particular branch of science. “Well, she’s certainly made an impression on Worf’s boy.”
The entire group watched, amused, as the attractive scientist entertained the Klingon youngster with her attention-getting holo display.
“Who ended up being responsible for the refreshments?” Picard wondered, glancing at the perimeter of the mini-fair. Deanna sensed that he’d just realized he hadn’t eaten all day.
“Ensign Alvarado,” Riker offered. “Her parents are professional caterers. She volunteered for the assignment.”
That seemed to mollify the captain, as he said irritably, “Guinan picked a damned inconvenient time to go on a religious retreat.”
The officers all exchanged guilty glances, but when Data began to interject a comment, Geordi nudged him, and the android closed his mouth. In the next second, the engineer grasped his android friend’s elbow and nodded toward the entrance of Ten Forward. A tall, well-built, middle-age human entered the room and approached the covered display they stood near.
“Well, hello there,” the sandy-haired stranger announced cheerily. He had a pronounced widow’s peak and an open pleasant face.
Deanna recognized his accent as originating from the part of Earth still incongruously termed New England. He’d turned the word there into a two-syllable construct that sounded more like “they-uh.” The diversity of accents from her father’s planet always amazed her.
“Are you all waiting for me to start my display?” the stranger asked the group. “I didn’t mean to be late.” He was only a little shorter than Will; he had friendly, bright, hazel eyes, with a strong nose that gave his face an attractive character. He turned on his display equipment and prepared his booth.
“Well, if you’re Dr. George Tarmud,” Geordi said softly, “I’ve been waiting for you.”
The fiftyish scientist turned to the chief engineer, raising his eyebrows expectantly. “Have you been reading my latest papers?”
Deanna sensed Geordi was a little nonplused. He touched his VISOR self-consciously. “Actually, sir, I just wanted to talk to you about this. The VISOR. You are the George Tarmud that invented the VISOR, aren’t you?”
Tarmud startled them with a full-bodied, hearty laugh, and he clapped a friendly hand on Geordi’s shoulder. “Oh, that,” he said, smiling. “I came up with the design for the VISOR a long time ago, my friend, right after I’d finished my post-graduate work. It was just the beginning of my real work, barely the start. It was actually an undergraduate student of mine that finished the practical design of the VISOR that you’re wearing. So, I stopped thinking of it as mine a long time ago.”
It didn’t take an empath to realize how startled Geordi felt. He frowned, then finally said, “Well, since I’ll never meet that student, Dr. Tarmud, I had kind of hoped I could express my appreciation to you.”
“I’m certainly happy someone’s getting some use out of that pilot research,” Tarmud said cheerily. “But there’s no reason to thank me. The VISOR was just the first step in a very long journey.” He turned on his displays, a wraparound visual board with multiple screens; the sophisticated imagery included graphs and filmed sequences. Tarmud cocked his head to one side and eyed Data speculatively. “A journey that, I hope, will help me tread some of the same paths as that eminent scientist, Noonian Soong. I believe you must be Commander Data.”
Data glanced at Geordi and blinked too rapidly, a reaction that indicated momentary confusion, Deanna knew. In spite of the fact that the android was the one individual aboard the ship she could not sense, like most of his crewmates, Deanna didn’t find Data hard to “read.”
“Yes, that is correct,” the android told the scientist quietly. He gazed at Geordi again, his face registering bafflement. “But I am afraid I do not understand your reference to Dr. Soong.”
“As I said, it’s a