Reunion - Michael Jan Friedman [72]
He had never felt so helpless—so frustrated. He is one of my oldest friends. And all 1 can do is wait. And hope. But not here. He had other business to attend to. “Excuse me,” he told Beverly. “Of course,” she said, managing a smile. “Don’t worry. I’ll hold down the fort.”
As the captain left her and made his way through sickbay, he could see Riker waiting for him at the entrance-just as he had requested. The first officer straightened as he noted Picard’s approach. His eyes searched the captain’s face as he wheeled out into the corridor. A moment later Riker used his long strides to fall into step beside him. “Not good,” he concluded without even having to ask.
“Not good,” Picard confirmed. Then, since there was nothing more that could really be said on that subject, he turned to another. “It appears we were mistaken, Num-ber One-about Morgen being the only target, I mean. Gilaad Ben Zoma was alone when he was attacked. And in retrospect, one must wonder if Cadwallader’s shoot-+ was as unintentional as we first believed.”
As the turbolift came up on their right, they turned and headed in. The doors opened as soon as the mechanism’s sensor recorded their presence and closed after they were inside.
“Bridge,” Picard instructed. Silently and without even a hint of motion, the lift began to carry them upward. “Revenge,” the younger man concluded, as if he had come to the end of an internalized dialogue. He turned to the captain. Judging by Riker’s expression, the word had left a bad taste in his mouth. “Revenge on everyone who had anything to do with her sister’s apprehension-and imprisonment.” He paused thoughtfully. “But talk about a warped sense of justice. Gerda did what she did of her own volition; no one on the Stargazer twisted her arm. And once you knew about it … what else could you do but try to stop her?” Picard frowned. “There was no other choice. You and I know that. But to Commander Asmund … who can say? It is not easy to accept the death of a loved one, much less a twin. Tragedy can do strange things to people’s judgment-make them see villains where there are none.”
Riker shook his head. “And not just tragedy.” The captain looked at him.
“Sometimes,” the first officer explained, “the desire to protect will do that too. Look at us.” He smiled ruefully. “I was seeing assassins everywhere I turned.”
Just then the doors opened and the bridge was revealed to them. Though the command seat was empty, all seemed to be in order, so they proceeded to the observation lounge. Once again a set of doors opened for them. They walked in and saw that everyone who was supposed to be there was there. With one exception.
The captain turned to Counselor Troi, who had cho-sen to wait for them by the door. “Simenon?” he asked. “He’s in engineering-a can’t-wait kind of meeting,
apparently. Geordi says that they may be on to something.” She paused. “Under the circumstances, I thought I would speak to the professor later-on my own.”
Picard nodded. “I agree, Counselor. You were correct to let them be.” He turned then to those positioned about the conference table. Morgen, standing by an observation port and frowning, his arms crossed over his chest. Pug, sitting at the table already, drumming fingers and looking more than a little leery. Greyhorse, waiting stoically with his hands locked behind his back. “Ah,” the doctor said. “At last. Now, perhaps, we can find out what’s going on.”
“Indeed,” the captain assured him. “Please-all of you-sit down.” They sat. Picard and Riker were the last to push their chairs in. The captain gazed at the expectant faces of his former officers. And at Pug Joseph’s in particular.
“Before I go any further, Pug, I must tell you that the others here have an advantage over you-at least some knowledge of what has