The Eyes of the Beholders - A. C. Crispin [90]
Guinan gave the Vulcan a knowing, sideways glance. “There’s no law says she has to stay an orphan.”
Selar had raised her glass to her lips. Now, slowly, she put it down without drinking. “What do you mean?”
“She could be adopted,” the hostess said. “If someone cared enough about her.”
“I doubt that many Vulcan couples would wish to adopt a child of such a passionate, emotional people as the Andorians,” Selar said.
“Probably not,” Guinan admitted. “But it doesn’t necessarily take a mother and a father to make a family. Many people are highly successful single parents, you know.” She gave the Vulcan another of those knowing glances. “Thala would be better off with one parent than with none, don’t you think? I mean”—she smiled—”that seems only logical to me.”
Selar raised her glass and took a sip, her mind racing. “You are suggesting that I should adopt Thala?”
Guinan shrugged. “Why not?”
The doctor stared at the hostess for nearly a minute in silence. “Why not, indeed?” she said finally. “There is a certain elegant logic to your suggested solution.”
Guinan smiled enigmatically. “There is, isn’t there?”
“If I were to adopt Thala, I could oversee her medical care and schooling myself. I would not have to trust her to the competence of others. I could ensure that she lacked for nothing.”
“Yes, you could,” agreed Guinan quietly. “And from an emotional standpoint, you’re used to Thala, so you’d be able to get along with her better than other Vulcans.” She gave the doctor a knowing look. “Who knows? You might even come to … enjoy her company.”
“I already do,” Selar said flatly. “Thala’s happiness and welfare are very important to me.”
“Does she like you as much as you like her?”
“Yes, I believe she does.”
Guinan spread both hands in a “There you have it” gesture. “Well, what more could you ask for?”
Selar’s eyebrow rose, and her mouth quirked. “Your logic is impeccable, Guinan.” Resolutely, the doctor tapped her communicator. “Selar here,” she said. “Doctor Crusher, I have decided to—”
Beverly Crusher’s anxious voice interrupted her. “Selar, I was just about to call you! Thala has run away!”
Selar forced calmness. “What happened? Where was she last seen?”
“She talked La Forge into taking her over to the starbase, and then, when he turned his head for a moment, she must have slipped away. He looked and shouted, but he couldn’t see her. She’d completely disappeared.”
“Kidnapped?”
“No. Geordi says it had to be deliberate on her part. They were crossing through the park, and there wasn’t another soul around, because the starbase is currently on its night cycle. When he couldn’t find her after a minute or so, he notified the starbase’s security people, and they threw up a sensor net around the park, but so far nothing.”
“Then the logical conclusion is that the child is still in the park.”
“Yes, but where could she be? Geordi scanned for her with his VISOR, but no luck. Even if she were hidden from normal vision, he should have been able to pick her up on infrared.”
“Do not forget that Thala is also blind. If any child could think of a way to escape La Forge’s unique vision, Thala could.”
“So you also think that she’s run away and is hiding out? Why would she do such a thing? Some kind of prank?”
The Vulcan remembered the little girl’s study of the starbase layout. “It was no prank, but an intentional effort to escape from the Enterprise, I am certain,” she said. “Now that I think of it, I believe that Thala has been planning this for some time.”
“We’ll have to go look for her. I’ll call Enterprise security.”
“Let me try first, alone,” the Vulcan requested. “I have something I want to say to Thala. I have decided to adopt her … if she wishes me to.”
“Oh, Selar, that would be wonderful!” Crusher’s voice was warm with enthusiasm. “Of course she will. She’s very fond of you!”
“I believe that it would be better to ask her in private. So