Q & A - Keith R. A. DeCandido [78]
Jordan nodded and asked Kadohata, “Another iced tea?”
“I’m fine,” the second officer said. “I’ve got to be back on the bridge in ten minutes.”
“One synthale, coming up.” Jordan walked off.
“So,” Kadohata asked, “how goes the preparation for the base camp?”
La Forge said, “Ready. Taurik did a systems check to make sure Q’s shenanigans didn’t do any damage, but we’re good to go.”
“Bravo. Once Worf sorts out the away teams, we can start exploring this dull ball.”
“Is it really that bad?” La Forge asked.
“No, it’s worse.” She sighed. “I suppose it’s possible that we’ll turn something up, but a planet arranged to be perfect strikes me as having little scientific interest. We don’t have to bother tracing the origins, since we know the planet was built and who built it. I think the most fascinating scientific inquiry involves finding out where something came from.” Kadohata was leaning forward in her chair now, gesturing so emphatically La Forge feared she’d spill her iced tea on him. “Digging around and finding out how it got there. But there’s none of that on Gorsach IX—it was all put there by those people the captain met. Takes the fun right out, if you ask me.” She looked contritely at La Forge. “I’m going on again. I’m sorry.”
“No, that’s all right.” La Forge held up a hand. “I see your point—but I’m curious as to how the place was built. I mean, making an entire planet? Now, that’s engineering. First thing I thought this morning when I woke up was, ‘Today, I get to check out the weird planet!’”
“Thus perfectly outlining the differences between the theoretician and the engineer,” Kadohata added.
“Yeah.” La Forge paused while Jordan brought over his synthale. “Thanks, Jordan.” He took a sip of the beverage, the syntheholic re-creation of an India Pale Ale. Then he said, “Look, Miranda, we need to talk.”
Kadohata frowned. “About what?”
“On the bridge, when we were activating the warp field, you jumped in and used the deflector.”
“Yes. I know that Data would probably have checked with you, or consulted with you, but that’s because Doctor Soong programmed him to be polite.” She paused. “Mum always said, ‘Speak your mind and let other people worry about whether or not it gets them cheesed off.’ Took four years of the Academy to teach me restraint and respect. Those first two years were a nightmare, believe you me. I was constantly questioning my superiors. Almost resulted in expulsion once or twice, to be honest.”
“My mother taught me to respect the chain of command.”
“That’s right, your mother was in Starfleet.”
“Yeah, and she’d be pretty—” La Forge hesitated, then broke into a grin. “She’d be pretty cheesed off if she heard me complaining to a superior officer for doing her job.”
Kadohata leaned forward, choosing her words carefully. “Geordi, I miss him too. A lot. He was my mentor back in the day. Data was integral to this crew. It would’ve been easier if he were here, but he’s not.”
Shaking his head, La Forge said, “I’m the one who’s being a jackass here, and I’m really sorry.”
“I’ve got my own issues.”
“Really?” That surprised La Forge.
Kadohata hesitated. “The vision I had was me back home on Cestus. I was a professor at Bacco University, just like Vicenzo. And it was completely wrong. That isn’t me.” She shook her head. “The hell of it is, I haven’t called home since then.”
Speaking slowly, La Forge asked, “Miranda, how long have you two been married?”
“Seven years next month.”
“You really think he’s going to think less of you because you feel you belong in Starfleet?”
“You’re right.” Kadohata went to sip her iced tea and saw the glass was empty. “I suppose this whole thing has me wound up wrong.”
“Maybe it does.” He put a hand on hers. “Look, Miranda, I’ve got no experience as a counselor, and my love life could charitably be called a disaster area, so maybe I’m not the best guy to give you advice.”
She smiled. “So noted. Carry on.”
“Call Vicenzo, trust him.”
Nodding, Kadohata said, “You’re right. Thank you, Geordi.” She added,