The Eyes of the Beholders - A. C. Crispin [26]
Thala thought that her people were right in at least one thing. Death would be preferable to either of those options.
She stood thinking and planning, making a mental list of what she should take and what she would abandon, all the while allowing the fine-spun oriri chains holding the jewels strung together to slip through her fingers, over and over …
“Doctor Crusher?” A hesitant voice came from the doorway of Beverly’s office, which she’d left open.
The chief medical officer looked up. “Data? Can I help you?”
“Am I disturbing you?” he asked, his unnaturally pale features showing a trace of almost-human anxiety.
If I didn’t know that’s impossible, I’d think he was nervous, Crusher thought. Aloud she said, “No, not at all. Come in, won’t you?”
He stepped inside, then paused on the threshold. “I would not want to interfere with your work, Doctor.”
“I’m not particularly busy at the moment, Data,” she said. “So please, sit down. What’s on your mind?” She leaned back in the chair, thinking that she’d never seen Data so unsure of himself.
The android seated himself, his features serene, but something about him still seemed unsettled. “Doctor Crusher … ,” he began, then stopped.
“Data, when we’re just talking like this, why don’t you call me Beverly?” She gave him a quick, speculative glance and said, “Because, correct me if I’m wrong, I don’t think you’re here on ship’s business.”
“You are indeed correct,” Data said. “Very well, Beverly …” He paused, then continued quickly, almost in a rush, “I need a woman’s honest opinion on something I have written, and I wondered whether you would give me yours.”
“Something you’ve written?” She was taken aback and struggled not to show it. “You mean … creative writing?”
“Yes, Doctor,” he said, and, reaching beneath his uniform jacket, the android withdrew a sheaf of folded pages covered with handwriting. “I have done several drafts of a novel about the early days of space exploration and a romance between the captain of a ship and the woman he loves. This scene is set on Earth’s moon, the night before he is to depart.” He glanced up at her hopefully. “I rewrote the book to be more overtly masculine in tone, which Commander Riker recommended. Then, when I asked Wesley to read it, he commented that, since this scene is a love scene and includes a woman’s point of view, I would be well advised to seek a woman’s opinion.”
“Did he specifically suggest me?” Crusher asked, thinking that the next time she saw her son she’d have a word with him about passing the buck, but Data shook his head.
“No, he did not. However, you and Counselor Troi are the two women with whom I work most closely, and she is not available, so that left you.”
“I see …” Beverly mustered a smile. “Well, Data, I’m honored that you think my opinion might be worth something, but I have to say that I’m not very experienced at literary criticism.”
“That is fine, Doctor … Beverly. My novel is written for a popular, not a literary, audience.” He held up the sheaf of manuscript. “Shall I read it to you?”
“No, I think I’d do better to read it myself,” she said, reaching across her desk. Taking the handful of manuscript, she began reading, acutely conscious of Data’s hopeful gaze fixed on her. It made concentrating difficult, to put it mildly.
She read the scene over twice, once to catch its flow and pacing, the next to study the style and content. Then she looked up. “I don’t really know what to say, Data,” she said honestly. Because I can’t tell you the truth, which is that this is awful!
“Just tell me whether it moved you,” Data urged. “Is that the way a woman really feels during a sexual encounter?”
Not any woman I ever met, Crusher thought grimly. This reads like some adolescent juvenile male’s fantasy of how women feel—sunlight and Juan boring into her … I’m afraid that “boring” is only too apropos …
“Well,” she began cautiously, “every woman does long to meet a soul mate, someone who really