"So you're going… where?"
"I haven't decided yet. The universe is mine to explore."
She wasn't having it. "You've explored it. You've discovered it. In ways the original explorers never imagined. So try again."
"I've thought of the Orion colony."
"Oh, swell. You can lose yourself among a bunch of strangers, and pretend it's all a new beginning. It would be new, but why begin with nobody who knows you?"
He stopped short, and fully enjoyed her annoyance.
"Perhaps because they won't try to 'advise' me on how to live the life I've managed to survive for ninety-three years." Having won the concession of a caught-out frown, he continued, "I am not the lonely, bereft recluse you imagine I might become. Wherever I go, and however I live, you may rest assured I will have made the decision of my own, fully informed and willing, accord."
"But what if that takes you beyond… well beyond conventional contact? Really, subspace only reaches so far."
"To borrow a purportedly wise phrase… 'there's no place that far.'"
"How very original. Fine, throw my words back in my face."
"A talent you share."
"Okay, okay… I'll admit it, I know you can live without me."
"Though you should know by now I prefer not to."
Another song began. The lyric caught his attention.
"This is new… but familiar? You chose it." He had no doubt.
I'll stand by you, take me in into your darkest hour, and I'll never desert you…
"An 'old' song, from my extremely long ago youth. I thought it might be appropriate… and maybe persuasive?"
He pulled her closer to share the dance. "Leora Eileen... eloquent you remain, but subtle, you never will be."
She stared boldy into his eyes... and ran out of attitude. "I love you only slightly less than I love Data."
"And I love you only slightly less than I loved Robert and René. Now in the words of Dixon Hill… shut up and dance."