Star Trek: The Next Generation™: The Insolence of Office by William Leisner

Author:William Leisner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2007-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

“I haven’t had much chance to talk to him since Hayes handed down his dictate,” said the image of Will Riker on the small screen. “But he’s not taking it well.”

“I wouldn’t imagine he would,” Troi said, sitting at the desk in her childhood bedroom. After finishing their uncomfortable morning meal, her mother had ensconced herself in her small study downstairs to make some calls to her friends within the Betazed government, letting them know that she had returned home and was ready to resume the duties (and the perks) of ambassadorship. So, Deanna decided to make some calls of her own and check in with the Enterprise. Little had she expected there would be such an eventful report waiting for her.

“Well, rumor has it, during beta shift, he threatened to put Lieutenant Porter through a bulkhead.”

“I suspect that’s an exaggeration,” the counselor said. Geordi La Forge was arguably the most even-tempered officer aboard the Enterprise. Even through his darkest personal trials, such as in the days following the disappearance and presumed death of his mother, Troi had always been taken by how well La Forge was able to control his anger and grief.

“I’m sure it is,” Riker said. “But the fact that a story like that could gain any traction at all, there’s likely a kernel of truth in there.”

Troi nodded and thought, I should be there for him. She hadn’t been on Betazed twenty-four hours yet, and already she was looking for excuses to leave her mother on her own again. Never mind that she wasn’t being of any actual help here. Nor, as Lwaxana had made clear, did she even expect any help from her daughter. But Deanna had to ask herself if her impulse to get back to the Enterprise as soon as she could didn’t in fact prove her mother right….

“Deanna?”

Troi started, realizing that Riker must have been trying to get her wandering attention back for a while. “I’m sorry, what were you saying?”

“I asked how your mother was.”

Troi shrugged. “She’s Mother. Handling it all with her usual aplomb.”

“That bad, huh?”

“What?”

A sliver of a grin flashed from underneath Will’s mustache. “When all you can say about your mother is ‘she’s Mother,’ that means you’re upset with her, but don’t want to say anything.”

Troi raised an eyebrow at Riker. “Who’s the psychologist here?”

“Sorry.” Riker put up both hands in surrender. “You don’t want to say anything, you don’t have to.”

Damn him. She did want to talk about it. She did want to share these uncomfortable and conflicting feelings with this man she had once called imzadi. But not now. Not while the person who had provoked those feeling was still in the same house, mere meters—

As Deanna turned her thoughts toward her mother, she empathically felt an abrupt emotional shift. The aplomb was gone, as something had triggered near panic instead. “I have to go, Will,” she said, standing up from her seat and blanking her screen before Riker even had a chance to look surprised.

As

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