“All right, then. For the record…no, I did not take your daughter to bed. Nor did she take me. It was late, we were tired…”
And I couldn’t get Deanna Troi out of my mind. But he didn’t say that part, though.
“Whatever,” said Roper casually. “My daughter is a perfectly capable young woman. I trust her decisions whenever she makes them, and whomever she makes them with.” He paused. “That Chandra Xerx was quite a lovely bride, I’ll wager.”
“Yes. Yes, she was.” This was the perfect opportunity to bring up what he was really thinking about. “So was her maid of honor…what was her name? Donna? Dena?”
“Deanna? Deanna Troi?”
“That’s right,” said Riker, hoping that his affected casual air was remotely convincing. “That was the name I heard mentioned. Deanna Troi.”
“Lovely girl. Just lovely. Now what is she up to these days?” Roper glanced outside for a long moment, as if the answers he sought were in the clouds. Perhaps they in fact were, because he turned back to Riker and said, “Psychology student. That’s it. Over at the university. Near the top of her class…I should remember that since Lwaxana’s always boasting about her.”
“Lwaxana is her mother?”
“Ohhhh, yes. Quite a character, that one. You know the old axiom about how, if you want to get a feeling for what the daughter will be like twenty, thirty years down the road…all you have to do is look at the mother?”
“Yes.”
“Case in point.”
Riker looked surprised. “What, is she that ugly?”
“Lwaxana? Oh, not by any means. In fact, she’s a very striking woman. Quite attractive, and she knows how to use her appearance to her advantage. But she can be very…overpowering.”
“Overpowering in what sense?” But before Roper could respond, Riker added, “Wait…Wendy was talking about a small percentage of Betazoids who are, telepathically, pretty formidable.”
“She may have been speaking specifically about Lwaxana,” Roper affirmed. “I think ‘formidable’ is a perfectly apt description. For that matter, according to what Wendy’s told me…and believe me, that girl is up on all the latest scuttlebutt…if you happen to be a suitor, then Lwaxana can be downright intimidating. Poor Deanna doesn’t see much in the way of a social life.”
“What a waste.”
His tone of voice had slipped more than he’d have liked. Roper looked at him with a cunning expression. “You’re interested in her, aren’t you.”
“Mark, I don’t even know her.”
“You’re dodging the question.”
“No, I’m not. How can I possibly decide if I’m interested in someone if I haven’t even exchanged ten words with her.”
Roper looked wistful. “Other than my marriage, the most memorable relationship I had in my life involved a young woman and an exchange of less than five words.” He regarded Riker. “That, of course, was when I was a very young man. Vital, alive, and feeling my oats. Much as you are now.”
“My oats are reined in, thank you, Mark,” Riker told him firmly. He stood and said, “If you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting with the commanding officer of the security team.”
“Sergeant Tang? Good man. He knows his stuff.” Roper swiveled the computer screen around to check his itinerary for the day. “Give him my regards.”
“I will.”
“And I hope I didn’t offend you with my observations about young Troi.”
“Not at all,” said Riker, heading for the door. “But to be perfectly honest, I have far more on my mind right now than Deanna Troi.”
“I’m sure you do. You know where the university is?”
“No, but it shouldn’t be hard to find…” And then Riker’s voice trailed off as he realized what he was saying. He turned back to Roper and said, “That is, of course, if I were interested in finding it.”
“Of course,” said Roper calmly. “If you were interested. Which you’re not.”
“Not at all.”
“Glad to hear it.”
Fifteen
Deanna Troi walked across the campus, her thoughts still on the topics they’d been discussing so forcefully in her psychological ethics class. So she paid no attention whatsoever to the young, dashing Starfleet officer who ever so casually, ever so coincidentally, strolled past her.
But then a voice called out, “I remember you.”
She stopped in her tracks. She couldn’t place the voice at all, but the sense of the person behind her was damned familiar. Then she smiled…inwardly. I should have expected this, she thought, and turned slowly.
He walked toward her, making a great show of trying to place precisely where he recollected her from. “The wedding yesterday. You were at the wedding, weren’t you.”
Slowly she nodded, making sure to maintain a very carefully constructed air of disinterest.
He stuck out a hand. “Lt. William T. Riker, at your service.”
She looked at his proffered hand for a moment. Then extremely carefully, as if handling a specimen, she took the tips of his fingers in hers and shook his hand very lightly. “What does the T stand for?”
“Terrific.” He waggled his eyebrows slightly to put across, just in case she didn’t get it, that he was making a joke.
She got it. But her expression made it quite clear that she didn’t care for it.
Or him.
“I’m new here…to the planet, I mean…and I’m just trying to get to know as many of the residents here as I can.”
“I see.” She had been holding a computer padd under her arm. Now she crossed her arms over her breasts, holding the padd over them as if it were a shield. She was dressed in flowing blue, a loose-sleeved tunic and a long blue skirt that the wind was swishing about her legs. “So you’re going around and introducing yourself, one person at a time. That could take quite a while.”
“It’ll take even longer when the people I’m introducing myself to don’t even tell me their names.”
She angled her head slightly, regarding him with that outthrust jaw of hers. “Why should I bother? You know my name.”
Now he folded his arms. “You know…it’s going to be very difficult being at ease with a population that considers my mind an open book.”
“I didn’t read your mind. I hazarded a guess. All you did was confirm it.”
“Oh. I…just assumed…”
“Assumptions can lead to great embarrassments, Lieutenant. As I’m sure you can attest.”
She turned and walked away from him.
He stood there for a moment and watched her go.
Don’t give up.
The thought entered his head, and he wasn’t entirely sure where it came from. Was it his own mind…or was the source elsewhere? Was there a remote chance that the encouragement had come from her…either consciously or unconsciously?
A remote chance, yes. Remote. Very, very slim. Pathetically thin, as a matter of fact. So thin as to be virtually nonexistent.
But still worth a shot.
He kicked into high gear and trotted after her. It was surprising how quickly she moved, with brisk, rapid steps. His quick pace brought him alongside her and he said, “You used to do some geology, didn’t you.”
That brought her up short and she stared at him.
“A lot of fieldwork,” he continued.
“When I was a teenager, yes.”
“Why did you give it up?”
“My true talents lay elsewhere. How in the world did you know?”
“The way you walk. I had a friend, she was also a geologist, except she made her life’s work out of it. She walked the same way…a very precise, measured stride. And she knew exactly how much space each of her strides covered. That way she could always measure off distances even if she didn’t have an instrument handy to measure them.”
Slowly she nodded her head. “Very good, Lieutenant. I’m impressed.”
“And I’m impressed that I impressed you.” Once m
ore he stuck out a hand. “I’m Lt. William T. Riker. And you are…?”
She sighed. “We’ve been through this, haven’t we?”
“I have. You haven’t.”
This time she took his hand and shook it firmly. “Deanna Troi. The answer is no.”
He wished he could get more than a handful of sentences out of her at a time. He loved listening to her voice. “The answer to what?”
“The answer, I would presume, to just about any question you’d care to pose.” She folded her arms once more. “Look, Lieutenant…I really don’t mean to be rude here…but I don’t have the slightest intention of leading you on. I know you saw me at the wedding last night. In fact, we both know you saw me, and we both know what was going through your mind.”
He took a step closer to her, sounding as suave as he possibly could. “Then we’re not exactly on even footing. I don’t know what was going through your mind.”
“Then I’ll tell you now. I’m very flattered by your intentions, Lieutenant. I’m vain enough to be pleased that I could provoke such…strong feelings from you…merely by the display of my body. Your reaction, however, would indicate an obsession for surface attributes only.”
“That’s hardly my sole interest,” he said defensively.
“No, but it’s a driving one.”
He drew yet another step closer, trying to discern whether his growing nearer was having any sort of effect on her. She wasn’t stepping back, which either meant that she wanted him near her, or else she just figured it wasn’t worth the trouble to back away from him. “Even if it is…it doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t want to get to know you better on a variety of levels.”
“That might be. But it’s the order of the levels that I have difficulty with. I also have difficulty with the transient nature of your personality.”
That stopped him. “Transient?”
She looked down and seemed almost reluctant to speak. “I don’t wish to say things that will upset you.”
His voice took on a deeper, somewhat annoyed air. “You won’t upset me, I assure you.”
“Very well.” She looked him in the eyes. Other students passing by afforded them quick glances before going on about their business. Her voice took on a clinical air as she said, “I sense that you’re someone who thrives on quick encounters. Who enjoys the physicality of relationships without the deeper emotional attachments those relationships can and should bring with them. And that natural tendency of yours is heightened by the fact that you’re only going to be on Betazed a few months. That’s much more incentive, then, to engage in passing romantic assignations without any concern of long-term relations since, by definition, you won’t be here long enough. Well? Am I close?”
His lips thinned almost to nonexistence. “I suppose you feel you have me pegged pretty well.”
“Well enough for my purposes. Good day, Lieutenant.”
She turned and walked away, and this time there was no additional beckoning in Riker’s mind, leaving him totally in the dark about where his mind was at, where her mind was at, and what precisely he should do next…
…if anything.
I’m home.
Deanna nodded to Mr. Homn, who stepped back away from the front door of the mansion as she entered.
In her head, her mother’s voice replied, I’m up here, Little One.
Deanna looked in the direction of the upstairs bedroom. What’s wrong, Mother? It was very unusual for Lwaxana Troi to be upstairs at this time of day…usually she was bustling around, tending to this, that, and the other, or perhaps entertaining some head of state. Her absence was reason for curiosity.
Deanna trotted upstairs and into her mother’s bedroom. Lwaxana lay in her bed, looking utterly spent. She blew her nose loudly into a cloth.
“Oh, Mother, what happened?”
It snuck up on me, replied her mother, responding to Deanna’s verbal expression of concern. One minute I was fine, and the next minute my head felt ready to explode. Treasure your health, Little One. You never appreciate it until it’s gone.
Is there anything I can do, Mother?
Lwaxana sneezed loudly, then thought, Yes, there is. Substitute for me.
Where?
The Federation embassy is hosting a reception for the Rigelian ambassador tonight. As a daughter of the fifth house, it’s my responsibility to be there. Obviously I can’t go when I’m in this shape.
Deanna sat on the edge of the bed and fidgeted with her hands. Out loud she said, “I’d really rather not, Mother. I was out late yesterday with Chandra’s wedding. I’ve been working late hours on my studies. I—”
Lwaxana sat up, but her expression had changed from self-directed misery to a puzzled frown. “Who’s Lieutenant Riker?”
With a loud sigh of annoyance, Deanna said, “He’s no one, Mother. And you know, after all this time, I still hate it when you do that. If I wanted to discuss him with you, I’d discuss him.”
“You would have sooner or later.” But then the draining of Lwaxana’s sinuses prompted her to lie back down, and as she blew her nose again, she thought, So who is he?
I told you, he’s no one. Just some Starfleet officer who can’t keep his…more base thoughts…under control. He’s of no consequence to me.
He’s of enough consequence, Little One, to be the primary factor in why you don’t want to go to the embassy tonight.
Deanna made an irritated noise. I’ll go, Mother. All right? I’ll go. I’ll be charming and wonderful and I assure you I’ll have absolutely no trouble with Lieutenant Riker. All right?
Her mother reached up and patted her affectionately on the cheek. That’s my girl.
And deep enough down in her psyche that she hoped even her mother wouldn’t be able to discern it, Deanna thought, Great. Just great.
Sixteen
The Federation embassy was fully lit up that evening and was alive with the boisterousness and frivolity of the gathering.
Unlike the wedding ceremony, which was almost entirely attended by Betazoids and hence was rather quiet, protocol required that conversation at embassy gatherings be primarily verbal, in order to accommodate offworlders. So it was that Riker found himself eminently more relaxed this time out.
He watched Mark Roper working the crowd, overseeing the catering functions, and doing everything he could to make the Rigelian ambassador feel at home. Considering that up until that point Riker’s sole exposure to Roper had been watching him fuss and bother over the details of his job, it was somewhat comforting to observe that Roper was indeed a perfectly talented diplomat when in the proper circumstances.
Riker was no slouch at such activities himself. He had his charm cranked up to all burners and continually made all the right moves and said all the correct things. At one point Roper drifted over to him and said, “You ask me, Captain, I think you’ve missed your calling. You have a real flair for this line of work.”
“I’m just a gifted amateur, sir.”
“Oh, now don’t be modest.”
But Riker hadn’t heard the last thing Roper had said because his attention had been distracted when Deanna Troi came through the door. He watched as she looked around, trying to spot someone she might know. She attracted the attention of one of the older counsels and immediately went off with him.
Roper watched the entire thing and his mouth twitched in amusement. “Your mind seems to be elsewhere, Captain.”
“Hmm? Oh.” Riker looked down, slightly abashed that he’d allowed his attention to be so easily diverted. What the hell kind of training was that? “Sorry, sir.”
“Once again your famed noninterest in Deanna Troi appears to rear its head.”
“Frankly, Mark…she’s not a particularly friendly person.”
“Really?” Roper seemed genuinely shocked. “She’s been nothing but friendly to me, and everyone who’s gotten to know her. Are you quite sure?”
“Well, she was extremely standoffish with me.”
“When was this?”
“I…happened to run into her. In the city.”
“I see. And how do you think you behaved?”
Riker stared at him. “I was fine. Polite.” Then he paused and admitted, “Frankly, I was damned uncomfortable.”
“Why, in heaven’s name?”
“Well…I had a hard time becoming totally at ease with a woman who can read my every thought.”
Roper looked from the young lieutenant to Deanna, who was across the room, and back to Riker once more. “Who? Deanna? She can’t read your every thought.”
“What? But—” Now Riker was clearly confused. “I thought that…I mean, I just figured…and you said her mother was so—”
“That’s her mother. But Deanna isn’t anywhere near the telepath that her mother is. To be specific, she’s half the telepath her mother is. Deanna’s father was human.”
“Human?” Riker was astounded. Here he couldn’t figure out how to come to terms with even talking to a Betazoid, and some man had actually found a way to marry one. And a powerful one, at that.
“That’s right. Deanna’s no mind reader. She’s an empath. She senses moods, emotions, feelings. She can sense honesty, duplicity, sexual desire…” Roper paused after saying that, waited for Riker’s expression of surprise, and when he got it, continued, “She’s very, very adept at that…but only in a general sense.”
“I see.” Then Riker nodded and grinned. “Well…perhaps I’d better try and rectify the situation.”
He took a step forward and suddenly Wendy was in the way. She was holding a drink and looked extremely mellow.
“Will, have you been avoiding me?” She placed a hand on his shoulder and assumed a distinctly pouty air. “I’d be very hurt if you were.”
Riker tried to come up with a smooth response that would ease him through the situation, but now Roper stepped in and said, “Wendy…there’s someone I’d like you to meet. The Rigelian ambassador.”
“Really?” she chirped. It was becoming rapidly clear that the drink she was holding was hardly her first of the evening.
“Yes, really. He’s right over this way.” Roper took his daughter by the arm and guided her away into the crowd, leaving Riker alone. Roper slowed only long enough to toss a wink in Riker’s direction.