Reunion - Michael Jan Friedman [16]
One of the captain’s friends, Geordi concluded. Enter-+ the lounge quietly so as not to disturb her, he couldn’t help but stare a little—and not just because she was one of the Stargazer people. He’d seldom seen a woman so well put together.”
What’s more, she was all by herself. Seems sort of lonely, he thought.
Or maybe not. Maybe she wanted a little solitude. If he’d known in advance that she was here, he would have changed the location of the meeting. Lord knows, he told himself, there are plenty of other lounges on the Enterprise. Geordi frowned. The least he could do was warn her that the lounge was about to be invaded. Coming a little closer, he cleared his throat. No reaction. Maybe she hadn’t heard. Walking the rest of the way across the room, he tapped her gently on the shoulder.
Before he knew what was happening, he found himself draped backward over her knee—looking up at her savagely clawed fingers as they hovered mere inches from his face. As he found her eyes, he saw a deadly hostility in them-a gleam that under other circumstances he might have called murderous.
Quickly, the hostility died. “Qos, “the woman breathed, mortified. Her cheeks burned a bright red.
QOS?
Lowering her hand, she helped Geordi get back on his feet. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t hear you come in. And-was She shook her head. “Please forgive me.”
“Sure,” he told her, grinning-trying to salvage what was left of his machismo. “No problem. I shouldn’t have surprised you like that.” Smoothing out his tunic, he held his arms out. “See? Good as new.”
She didn’t grin back. “There’s no excuse for this. It’s just that I was trained, early on, to—”
“It’s all right,” he assured her. “Really.” He held out his hand. “Geordi LaForge, chief engineer.”
She grasped it-more firmly than he expected. Though after what had just happened, he probably shouldn’t have been surprised. “Idun Asmund,” she responded. “First officer of the Charleston. One of your captain’s guests.”
“I gathered as much,” he told her. “You don’t normally see too many command uniforms around here.” “No, I don’t suppose you do.” Just then, Duffy and DiBiasi walked in. When they saw Geordi’s companion, they stopped-dead in their tracks. Apparently, she was every bit as striking as his VISOR had led him to believe. “That’s what I wanted to tell you,” Geordi explained. “This place is about to become lousy with engineers. We’re having a meeting, sort of-though you’re invited to sit in if you’d like.” He glanced at Duffffy and DiBiasi. “I’m sure no one would mind.”
“Thank you,” said Asmund, “but no. I was just about to be going anyway,” she lied.
Geordi shrugged. “Suit yourself. See you around, then.”
She nodded. “Yes. See you around.”
As she crossed the room, neither of the newcomers could take their eyes off her. “My God,” said DiBiasi once she was gone. “Who was that, Commander?”
“No ranks here,” said the engineering chief, “remember? And as for who she is … she’s one of the Stargazer officers. You know, the bunch serving as Captain Mor-gen’s honor guard.”
Duffy grunted. “Some guys have all the luck.”
“Hey,” DiBiasi chimed in, “I thought all the captain’s friends were in Ten-Forward. What’s she doing here?” Geordi shook his head. “I guess that’s her business,” he said. Suddenly, he saw those clawed fingers again-hovering like a hunting bird, ready to tear him apart. Shuddering, he put the image from his mind. “Come on. Let’s get some coffee.”
Beverly tucked one leg underneath her and sat down on her bed. Opening the, box of audio modules, she picked one out at random. How long had