Possession - J.M. Dillard [55]
“No, of course not,” she replied, too quickly. As they watched her, waiting for something else, she finally said, “It’s just that Deanna had some problems ‘reading’ Skel. Apparently, the terrible ordeal he endured as a child has had lasting effects on him. It’s really rather sad.”
“That little bit of information the Vulcans sent Picard about the initial epidemic was pretty dry,” Geordi added, “but still it sounded terribly grim.”
“He was only a child at the time,” Crusher told them. “He lost his mother, and his father was infected.”
“Was Skel infected as well?” Data asked.
Beverly shook her head. “Just affected by the trauma of his experience. Interestingly enough, none of the children of Vulcan were infected—just adults. It’s interesting how diseases can single out certain members of a community, affect some, and leave others unscathed. But the children had their own price to pay.”
“I don’t know if I’d want to devote my life to studying the things that caused my mother’s death,” Geordi said quietly.
“Skel explained,” Crusher told them, “that he wanted to make something positive out of such a negative event.” Then she smiled, as if trying to break the somber mood. “Well. If you gentlemen have garnered all the information you need, this area is supposed to be off-limits.”
“Thanks for letting us in, Doc,” Geordi said.
“I thank you as well,” Data told her. “I could have gotten the images from a remote scan, but this data is much more precise.”
“Well, the captain approved it,” Crusher said. “Frankly, the little things give me the creeps. I’ll be glad when they’re off the ship.”
As the two officers stepped out into the corridor, Geordi turned toward his android friend. “Will you start work on those matrixes right away?”
“I believe so,” Data said. “Skel will only be on board for another two days. It does not give me much time.”
“You go ahead,” Geordi told him. “I’ve got to check something in engineering, then I’m going to call it a night and relax in my quarters.”
“I will see you tomorrow, Geordi,” Data said, as they parted ways.
Geordi smiled as his friend moved away down a rounded corridor; already absorbed in the tricorder readouts of the shell engravings. If anybody can break that language, Data can.
The chief engineer made his way to his work area. He’d wanted to check, just one more time, the ship’s efficiency ratings since the new calibrations had been worked in. He spent a few minutes at his station and conferred with a few of his staff. He was in the middle of a conversation with the officer in charge of this shift, when he spied the newcomer.
“Dr. Tarmud?” he said in surprise.
“Ah, there you are, Mr. La Forge!” the scientist said cheerily.
“It’s, uh, nice to see you, sir, but this area is usually off-limits to everyone except authorized ship’s personnel. Can I help you?”
“Well, I understood that you were off duty,” the scientist explained sheepishly, “so I attempted to locate you through the computer, but you kept moving. I followed the computer’s directions and eventually turned up here. Sorry if I’m trespassing.”
“No harm done, sir,” Geordi assured him. “And, technically, I am off duty.” The engineer glanced at the leader of the shift and nodded farewell, then moved closer to the scientist. “What is it you wanted to see me about?”
As they drew away from the others, Tarmud put a friendly hand on Geordi’s shoulder. “Actually, Mr. La Forge, I came to apologize.”
The younger man felt confused. He glanced at Tarmud, who kept his eyes downcast, as if too embarrassed to meet the engineer’s gaze.
“I’m just a nuts-and-bolts researcher, Mr. La Forge,” Tarmud explained. “If you haven’t noticed by now, some of us scientists get so absorbed in our work, so single-minded, that we lose our appreciation for social skills. I’m afraid when we spoke the other day in Ten Forward I was rude to you. Totally dismissive of what you were trying to tell me. I realized it sometime later, and when I did, well—I just wanted to apologize. I feel like an old fool one step out of touch with reality.