The Eyes of the Beholders - A. C. Crispin [1]
La Forge suspected his disturbing dream of blindness had been triggered not only by the anniversary of receiving his VISOR but also by his visit to sickbay the previous morning. Doctor Crusher had examined him, assured him that he was in the best of health, then gently asked if Geordi had made a decision about whether to keep his VISOR or to allow her and Doctor Selar to attempt to regenerate his optic nerve.
If I had normal vision, La Forge thought as he washed his face and ran a pick through his short hair, I wouldn’t feel self-conscious about the way my eyes must appear to others—especially women—when I remove my VISOR. He felt his face grow hot when he remembered the way ill-mannered strangers had reacted to him when he was small. “Oh, the poor little thing!” one woman had gasped. And, “He can’t see out of those eyes, can he?” a man had boomed, as though Geordi couldn’t hear, either.
On the other hand, if he gave up his VISOR to gain normal vision, he’d lose his unique ability to “see” what “normal” people could not. Also, being blind and wearing the prosthetic device was part of who he, Geordi La Forge, was—as much a part of how he defined himself as his Starfleet career. Did he want to become somebody different?
La Forge knew that it would take him at least a year to have the regeneration treatments and learn to see as normal people did. He’d recently been promoted to chief engineer, and Captain Picard had commended him on his performance. Did he want anything to jeopardize that?
Geordi sighed aloud, tired of wrestling with questions that seemed to have no satisfactory answers. For a moment he considered going down to engineering, but the almost imperceptible vibration of the Enterprise’s impulse engines assured him that they were functioning perfectly. Impulse power was all that was needed on their current assignment, while the big ship mapped and explored this relatively unknown sector.
Yeah, and don’t forget that Sonya Gomez is on duty, Geordi reminded himself. The poor kid’s nervous enough already. You don’t want her to think you don’t trust her to stand her watch competently—that you feel the need to check up on her.
Besides … he wasn’t in the mood for work. He wanted to talk to someone. Not officially, it wasn’t serious enough to seek out the ship’s counselor, but … talking would help him exorcise the terror of the dream where he’d been truly blind again.
Pulling on a pair of soft shoes, La Forge left his cabin and turned left down the corridor. He had a hazy idea of going down to Ten-Forward and talking to Guinan. The enigmatic hostess was a good listener, and a drink would relax him.
Guinan intrigued Geordi. He’d been told that her skin color was almost the same as his, and he knew that outwardly she appeared equally human, but La Forge’s unique vision let him see more than most people. He knew that Guinan was an alien—humanoid but not human. Her basal temperature and metabolic rates gave her away, along with certain other differences he could detect.
Halfway to the turbolift, though, the chief engineer halted, frowning. There were bound to be friends of his in Ten-Forward, and Geordi really wasn’t in the mood for socializing with a crowd. Most of his closest friends were assigned to the same duty shift as he was, so they were undoubtedly sound asleep …
… with one exception, of course.
Smiling, La Forge turned around and walked back up the corridor to the door of a cabin and signaled it.
“Come,” a voice said. The door opened and Geordi entered.
“Data, it’s me,” La Forge called as he walked through the bedroom to the small living area. It contained the usual furniture, with the addition of an easel. A bank of computer displays winked on the walls. On the desk there was a violin case, now pushed to one side.
Lieutenant Commander Data sat at his desk, holding some kind of short, slender instrument La Forge