The Sky's the Limit - Marco Palmieri [100]
“A system your species knows as Tau Alpha C.”
Wes picked the location from memory with careless ease. “That’s a long way from here. And I thought I was far from home.”
“You are.” The alien’s head bobbed. “Distance isn’t only a matter of abstracts like space-time, but also of emotion.”
“Thanks,” he replied, “that makes me feel a whole lot worse.”
“I am sorry for that,” continued his companion, “and I must apologize for what else I have to tell you.”
A fist of ice formed in Crusher’s chest. Something in the alien’s manner stopped him dead. “What is it? Mom—?”
A slight shake of the head. “Your mother is not injured, you need not fear for her well-being.” He sighed. “The other human, Captain Picard. His life has just ended.”
Wesley’s legs turned to lead and he halted in shock. “What? How?”
“The cause was a critical lack of hydration, brought about by the conditions on Lambda Paz, a moon orbiting the fifth world of the Pentarus system.” Genuine sorrow was visible on the alien’s face. “I regret bringing this news to you, Wesley, but I believed you would wish to know.”
“What was he doing there?” he demanded. “Tell me!”
“There was a shuttle crash. The Pentaran pilot and a junior officer from the Enterprise died on impact. Picard survived but was unable to summon help.”
Somehow, Wesley instantly knew the identity of the other Starfleet crewman. “Jake.”
The alien nodded. “Ensign Kurland perished instantly. His end was mercifully swift.”
He sagged against the wall of a building and tried to take it in. Picard was gone. For all the distance from the man, for all the cross words between them, Wesley had always felt a connection to the captain that transcended those things. He was suddenly hollow inside, the Traveler’s quiet words resonating through him. Years ago, when his father died on a mission, Wesley had been only a child and the full reality of the event had not been clear to him. Now, Picard’s death brought all those feelings crashing to the surface, their power undimmed by the passage of time. His vision swam with tears as he remembered Jean-Luc standing before him, his hand held out, the offer of sponsorship at the academy on the captain’s lips.
“I am sorry, Wesley,” repeated the alien. The pale-faced humanoid offered his hand, mirroring Picard’s long-forgotten gesture. “Are you ready to go back?”
Crusher shoved away the outstretched arm and pushed off the wall. “Leave me alone,” he grated, his voice thick with emotion. “Just get away from me.”
“I don’t know how he could have known,” Wes explained. “We were light-years from Pentarus, and Starfleet didn’t get to Lambda Paz until much later. Somehow, he knew it the moment it happened…. And it was as if, when he told me, I knew it too, almost as if I had been there.”
“You can’t blame yourself for Captain Picard’s death, or Jake Kurland’s or that pilot’s.” Mika shook her head. “Wes, you left that life behind years ago. All of those men knew the risks they were facing. They could have made the same choices that you did, but they didn’t.”
Crusher’s eyes were fixed on the cup in his hand. “Jake had just been accepted into Starfleet Academy. The Pentarus mission was going to be his last assignment with the Enterprise before he shipped back to Earth.” He gave a bitter chuckle. “He always swore to Annette that he’d command his own starship one day. Instead, he died for nothing in some alien wilderness.”
Mika heard severity in Wesley’s voice. “He was your friend once.”
“He wasn’t good enough!” spat her husband. “If he hadn’t been aboard Enterprise, with everything that ship ran into, he would never have made the cut! Jake Kurland wasn’t good enough to be an ensign! He never would have seen the signs, he wouldn’t have been ready for it to all go wrong! Picard would still be alive if—” The sudden tirade faded out as fast as it had come.
“If what?” she asked him. “If