444 A Meeting Of Minds
First thing's first, I would need for them to wake up in sickbay, that way they would assume they didn't actually die and had been rescued instead. I might not brief them into everything right away, though. What they went through was enough for them to deal with right now.
I stepped with the three of them to sickbay and the Chappels helped me set them up on bio-beds, the lone Tasha by herself and the other Tasha with the ensign in their own alcove. The Chappels checked them over, even though I had healed them already, and they changed their clothes to make them more comfortable.
I tapped my comm badge. “Riker to Commander Data.”
“Data here, sir. Go ahead.” Data responded.
“I hope I'm not disturbing you.” I said.
“No, sir. I'm just going over a copy of my daughter Lal's engrams that I integrated into my own programming, so I wouldn't lose the wonder and awe she felt.” Data responded. “She was a remarkable scientific and familial achievement.”
“She really was.” I said. “Do you want to try and bring her back? Since she still exists as a part of you, all you'd need is another positronic brain to imprint her engrams into.”
Data was silent for several moments, which was an eternity for an android. “Chappel did mention once that you have Lore's head.”
“I do and it's cleaned out. Lal was already an extension of your own programming, so recreating her should be possible. If it doesn't quite work out to restore her to being herself, she can become your second daughter, or even your granddaughter and can chose a name for herself.”
“Yes, sir. I would like to try it during our next off shift.” Data said. “Our last collaboration was quite enlightening as we proved that the Borg are not the perfect species as they claim, after they killed so many of their own people as they built and tested the transwarp conduits.”
“I'm not busy, so I'll be happy to help.” I said, a little pointedly.
“You're not busy? I thought you were going to...” Data stopped talking for another moment. “Computer? Location of Tasha Yar?”
“Tasha Yar is located in sickbay.” The computer responded in a posh British male accent. “Tasha Yar is located in sickbay.”
“I'll be right there. Data out.” Data said.
I tapped my comm badge to end the call and looked at Chappel.
“Yes or no on showing there's two of them?” Chappel asked.
I looked from one of the Tashas to the other. “We'll wake the lone one first and let her see Commander Data as the first friendly face she knows.”
“Not your own?” Chappel asked with a wag of her eyebrows.
I shook my head. “I'll introduce myself after she calms down and she should notice our slightly different uniforms. She's a tactical officer and that will be enough for her to assume she's on another ship.”
Chappel nodded and a nurse walked over to the medical bay's door and opened it just as Data appeared and he rushed into the room.
Data came to a stop beside me and his eyes were locked onto the still form of Tasha Yar. I had already briefed him about the timeline she came from, where she served on a warship during a decade long war with the Klingons. She both was and was not the Tasha he had lost years ago.
I stepped back and motioned to Chappel. “Wake her.”
Chappel used a stimulant and injected her neck with it and stepped back as well.
Tasha groaned as her mind adjusted to not being in the extreme pain she felt when the console exploded and she sucked in a sharp breath as she opened her eyes to stare at Data. “C-Commander? I thought... wasn't I sent back... with...” Her eyes narrowed when she noticed the more futuristic uniform he wore. “You're not my Commander Data from the Enterprise, are you?”
“No, I'm not.” Data said and her eyes widened at him saying a contraction. “However, I would like to be.”
Tasha opened her mouth to speak, then what he said registered and her face flushed red. “You... but...”
“Now is not the time to debate if I am fully functional or not. You've been through a harrowing experience and you need some time to come to grips with it.” Data told her.
Tasha's blush faded and she sighed. “We failed?”
“No, you were successful.” I said and stepped into her view and her eyes widened again at seeing me, probably because I looked so young. “The Klingons saw your sacrifice and the survivors of the colony reported it back to their homeworld. It kept the timeline intact.”
Tasha relaxed and smiled. “That's good. That's really good.” She looked from Data to me, then she saw a Chappel walk by. She knew who that was and gave me and my collar a look and saw the admiral designation. “We're all from different time anomalies?”
“That's close enough as an explanation for now. Like Data said, you need to rest. We can worry about debriefing you later.” I said and nodded to Data. “If you'd like to stay with her and talk, you can. Just make sure to save the world altering news for a more appropriate time.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you.” Data said and smiled as he sat beside Tasha's bed with his hand out. In it was her rank pips, because he knew she would feel less without them to define her.
Tasha reached out and took them to attach to her collar. “You really do know me.” She said and then let out a little chuckle as Data held up his other hand that had a small palm phaser. She took it and tucked under her pillow and gave Data a huge smile.
I didn't speak and quietly walked away from them. Chappel pulled a curtain around them and blocked them off from sight and gave them some privacy. She looked at me and I shrugged. We would have to keep the other Tasha hidden for now, as well as Ensign Hendricks. There was no way I was going to interrupt Data and Tasha as they established a new friendship as they got to know each other again.
Another Chappel moved another curtain around the alcove to hide the occupants and I nodded to her. With nothing else to do, I went back to my quarters and met a scantily clad Beverly Crusher there. She looked almost eager as she greeted me warmly, then she helped me change for bed. We weren't going to be sleeping for a while, though.
*
The USS Retaliation left Chaldor IV after only a couple days and flew at their best speed to rendezvous with the USS Enterprise near the border of Cardassian space. The other ship didn't know they were there, though. They shadowed the Enterprise until the shuttlecraft left the ship carrying the Cardassian spy and the Bajoran ensign named Sito Jaxa.
She had also been involved in the same flight accident that caused Wesley Crusher's disgrace at the Academy and then somehow managed to be posted on the Enterprise after she graduated. That didn't seem right and Wesley tried to not hate how that worked out, not with what Captain Picard was doing to the young woman.
Picard had specifically asked for her assignment to the Enterprise to give Sito another chance to redeem herself and then sent her on a mission that nearly guaranteed her death. That was not what Wesley signed up to Starfleet for. Not at all.
Where was the honor in throwing someone away as a cover for a spy, when they could have easily just had the spy leave alone or take a non-Bajoran? It made no sense, unless they were intentionally giving up her life to placate the Cardassians during their negotiations to end the war between them and the Federation.
The USS Retaliation followed the shuttlecraft until it left the Enterprise's sensor range and they caught the shuttle in a tractor beam, disabled the shuttle, and beamed both the Cardassian and Jaxa aboard into sickbay. Lwaxana was there and she immediately discovered the spy had fed false information to the Federation and brought the Bajoran woman as a bribe to get back into his government's good graces.
Well, that settled things and two fake bodies were prepared, with their genetic signatures inside, and the shuttle was programmed with flight data and to allow the small warp core to breach and destroy the ship within close range of the Cardassian ship sent to pick the spy up. It was the best they could do to ensure the Cardassians didn't profit from the spy's double cross.
The spy was kept asleep and his most recent memories were wiped, just so he wouldn't know why he was no longer in Cardassian custody, and he would be dropped off somewhere on Bajor. They would give the man an appropriate punishment for the things he had done to them over the years of the occupation.
*
Wesley sat at Sito Jaxa's bedside and waited for her to wake up naturally. She had been healed of her actual injuries and the simulated ones, so she would no longer feel any pains or aches. It also gave Wesley some peace of mind to know he had been there to save her from Captain Picard trying to sacrifice her for the good of the Federation.
Jaxa blinked her eyes as she woke up and she startled slightly at seeing Wesley there. She sat up and stared at him for several moments before she let out a sigh. “I'm not dead?”
“Far from it.” Wesley said and explained what had happened and why he had to step in to stop it from happening. Well, the results of it happening, anyway. He couldn't let her give up her life for no reason, even if everyone else thought it was necessary and noble of her to do it.
Jaxa gave him sad eyes and didn't cry. She had learned a long time ago that crying didn't solve anything. “Now what?”
“Everyone thinks you're dead, so forget about everything you had to struggle through to reach this point in your life.” Wesley answered and she raised her eyebrows at him. “You can do whatever you want from here on out. You can join our crew, or study as much as you want, or be dropped off somewhere, or have your looks changed and go back as someone else, or you can fight the Cardassians as a Maquis. It's up to you.”
Jaxa laid back down and stared up at the ceiling. “You couldn't just say go have dinner or something? What's with giving me a bunch of life changing choices right away?”
Wesley laughed and patted her arm. “That's the scary part of having actual freedom, Jaxa. Choice. You can choose to do whatever you want and it's terrifying if you're not ready for it.”
Jaxa nodded and sighed again. “What if... I choose nothing?”
Wesley smiled at her. “We just have to pick up a few people and then we're on our way to Risa for a week of relaxing and having fun. You can worry about what to do with yourself after that if you want to.” He stood up and gave her arm another pat. “Or don't. It really is up to you.”
Jaxa took a deep breath and let it out. “Thanks, Wes.”
“You're welcome. It's what friend are for.” Wesley said and looked at the bio-bed she was in. “Do you want to stay here or be assigned guest quarters?”
Jaxa didn't have to think about it as she threw off the blanket. “Quarters. I don't want to take up space in sickbay for no reason.”
Wesley nodded and motioned towards the door. “Come on, then. I'm sure my Chappels have a nice room prepared for you already.”
“Your Chappels?” Jaxa asked and stood, smoothed down the generic outfit she wore, and followed Wesley out of sickbay.
“It'll take a little explaining. Have you got a few days to spare?” Wesley asked with a smirk.
Jaxa softly chuckled and nodded. She really did have as much time as she wanted to make whatever decisions she needed to make and his joke reminded her that there was no rush. When they entered the guest quarters, Jaxa caught her breath, because it looked like a temple to the Bajoran Prophets and several tributes were set out for her to give.
“We hope you like what we've done with the place.” Lieutenant Chappel commented and stepped out wearing a traditional Bajoran outfit that temple attendants wore.
Jaxa looked at Wesley and then at the woman that had a twin in sickbay. “It... it's perfect.”
Chappel beamed a smile at her and picked up a bag with another outfit inside. Jaxa took it and gave her a hug, then went into the bedroom to change. She donned the ear jewellery first that she couldn't wear because of Starfleet regulations, and she felt calmness settle inside herself as she changed her clothes.
When she was appropriately dressed, she looked at herself in the mirror and knew this was who she was. Deep down, this was her, and everything else was everyone else's expectations of her. She didn't want to feel like she had to hide who she was anymore and she left the bedroom with her head held high.
Jaxa accepted the bowl of appropriate food and another material gift from Chappel and Welsey, and she knelt to present it to the mini-temple and placed the items near the altar. She prayed out loud as she thanked them for delivering her from persecution and into the arms of people to save her. She then promised to do what she could to save as many of her people from the same thing as she could.
Wesley nodded to Chappel and she passed that message on to Thomas Riker. It would give him an idea of what the crew could do while they were near Deep Space Nine. It even played right into their current mission of saving people in the background without letting the rest of the galaxy know about it.
Whether or not Sito Jaxa would stay with them to work on that mission was something they could worry about after their vacation. They didn't notice one of the small fruit slices had disappeared from the bowl or that one of the small metal slivers in the monetary gift faded away as well.
*
The Q that looke like a young John DeLance stood in the white space of the realm his people existed in and he huffed. “I want to be angry at him mucking around with my things and I can't.”
“Why?” Another Q asked.
“Even though his actions are causing some ripples, he's actually ensuing that Jean-Luc remains the captain of the Enterprise.” Q answered, a little exasperated.
“Ah, I see. Since the ship itself is the nexus of hundreds of realities and events that transpire, that practically requires it to be involved, and your pet remains onboard and in a position of authority.” Q said, wisely.
“Yes, and it irks me.” Q said. “Why can't Thomas Riker step out of line and let me shunt him off into another reality again?”
“He's making sure to not give you a reason to.” Q responded and tilted her head. “Even his efforts with the Borg only ensure their desperation move to try and assault Earth, since its their last ditch attempt to win a war they're losing, thanks to Janeway and Voyager.”
Q gave Q a look and then chuckled. “I forgot about that. I'll have a lot of fun then.”
“Your obsession with them is quaint and a little unsettling.” Q commented.
“Is that why you are kind of paying attention to what I'm doing?” Q asked. “It's been millennia since you felt anything like being unsettled.”
Q gave him a look that said everything and nothing, then looked away.
“Don't banish me if I say your slight interest is also interesting to me.” Q said and tried to hide his pleased feeling. Getting any of his people to actually react had taken eons of effort.
Q glanced back at him, let out a soft sigh as she flicked her red hair over her shoulder and then she blinked out of existence with a flash of light.
“Heh.” Q let out and looked back at the anomaly and knew Q was right. Thomas Riker was being very careful to not gain his attention, which actually gained his attention, because he knew he was being successfully avoided and that was vexing. As an ascended being, how could a mere human do that?