In the morning, Maya woke up early filled with unease and a haunting urgency. She had gone to sleep elated, her head slightly hazy with the synthoholic wine they had drunk with dinner and her mind and emotions tingling from the opera, which had been truly thrilling. She had never seen this art form presented live before. The closest had been a rather indifferent production of The Mikado, which Sarah Pulcher had staged in the Alphan theatre. The Enterprise's three principal singers, playing Otello, Desdemona and Iago, were unlike anything she had ever heard and she had been unprepared for the power of the performance, the beauty of the voices. Will had been surprised by her enthusiasm. He had often seen professional shows and to him it had just been a competent amateur production, but she had been moved. She remembered talking a lot in her excitement, the synthohol unbinding any remains of reticence. She had forgotten the embarrassment of the lunch on the holodeck. She had forgotten the squabble with Tony.
And now, she thought, she was suffering from something like an emotional hangover. As she went through the motions of making herself presentable, she wondered whether she ought to have gone to find Tony even if he was asleep. After all, he must have been feeling as odd and disorientated as she had on her first night on the Enterprise. But she had still been angry about the way he had behaved, and she hadn't wanted to spoil her inspired, elated mood.
Those feelings had gone, and all that was left was an anxious desire to see him. She hurried along the early-morning corridors, already bright and bustling with people going about their duties and children running to their classrooms. Inconveniently, Tony had been assigned quarters two decks below and halfway round the hull from hers. When she got there she buzzed the door three times and got no reply.
An ensign who had shown her some of the engineering systems greeted her in passing. Maya smiled back and began to feel foolish and exposed standing out here in the corridor. She tried the door, and found that it was not locked anyway; it slid back as she touched the access panel.
The lights inside were down, and Maya had to stumble carefully through the living room to the bedroom door. He was still fast asleep, curled into a ball under the sheet, a huddled shape.
Maya whispered for dimmed lights, sat on the bed, and ran her fingers into his hair.
He woke with a start and bolted upright, blinking and glaring. "What? Oh." He glanced around, evidently remembering where he was and not looking pleased about it. "What's the time?"
"About 0800 hours. It's late."
"For what?" He rubbed his face. "I've had about four hours sleep then. Where the hell were you?"
"You know where I was!"
"Afterwards, I mean, after whatever it was you went to see."
"I - had dinner. Helena said you'd gone to bed because you were tired. I didn't want to disturb you."
"Well, I didn't go to bed. As soon as I got out of the Captain's dinner I got that robot to take me back to your quarters. You weren't there - I waited for two hours - then I went round the ship looking for you."
"I was only in Ten-Forward, having something to eat."
"With Riker?"
"Helena was there to. But yes, with Commander Riker, I mean I wasn't going to sit there and eat by myself. What's the matter, Tony?"
"I'll tell you what the matter is. I went to the bar too. I didn't see you there, but I did end up having a conversation with some Enterprise people which turned out to be very interesting." He slumped back on the pillows.
Maya waited for him to go on, her heart chilling. She could guess immediately the import of the conversation and she knew very well what this confrontation was about, but she kept up a desperate attitude of innocence. Eventually she prompted him. "Why? What did they say?"
"That you and Riker have become quite an item on board the Enterprise. Lead story in the weekly bulletin, in fact."
"But that's just not true."
"These people didn't know me, Maya, they just knew I was one of the Alphans - why should they lie to me?"
"It's gossip, that's all!"
"Based on what?"
"On nothing! I told you yesterday, Will's looked after me and made me feel welcome, but it was his job to do that."
"That includes going off with him after a party, for instance?"
"Oh, this is ridiculous!" She stood up. "What do you think I would do?"
He looked at her sullenly. There was no lightness in his manner, and she felt injured and guilty at the same time. She did not feel like making a physical appeal to him, with so little warmth coming from him.
The silence was broken by the door buzzer.
"Oh, maybe that's Riker come to find you now," said Tony.
"Tony!"
"Answer it, then. I don't even know how."
Leaving him in bed, Maya went through to the living room and answered his door for him. It was Data.
"Good morning," said Data. "I am surprised. I expected to see Mr Verdeschi."
"He's through there, Data. He isn't up yet."
"Then I will not intrude. I had only come to remind him that I am his liaison officer, and to offer to show him the ship's facilities now that he has had the chance to rest. Perhaps you could suggest a convenient time for me to return?"
"I'm not sure." She looked at the bedroom door, from which he showed no signs of emerging. Perhaps his bad mood was mostly due to lack of sleep, and if she left him to rest he would be more reasonable later on. "Are you busy at the moment, Data?"
"No. My assignment for this morning was to guide Mr Verdeschi."
"Do you want to have breakfast with me?"
"Thank you. I have in fact already eaten sufficiently this morning to maintain normal operating parameters until 1300 hours, but I will enjoy your company while you do."
Then somebody would, she thought.
She had breakfast with Data in Ten-Forward, where a few other people had met to eat together. She saw two Alphans in the company of one of the civilian Enterprise staff; she knew that a large number of the crew had been assigned to take care of them. Most of the crew were trained to be skilled in what they called 'first contact procedure'. Having read something about the theory and practice that was established, she wondered if the Alphans could have benefited from such training themselves.
Even though day and night on the ship were artificial, there was a cold atmosphere of morning in the bar. For the first time in several days now, she remembered that she had no work to go to.
Some workers were up on scaffolding near the roof, draping decorations.
"What are they doing?" she asked. "Is something going to happen here?"
"Yes," said Data. "The Enterprise will be arriving at Lanthenon at 1600 hours today, and this evening we will be hosting a reception for Ambassador Trewhella, the King and Queen of Lanthenon, and Princess Amarantha. I believe that you and the other senior officers from Moonbase Alpha will be invited."
"I see. Are they having the wedding here?"
"No. Weddings are sometimes held on board the Enterprise, but this one, I believe, is to take place in a state building on Lanthenon where royal weddings have been held for hundreds of years."
"Are you going?"
"No, I will be required on the bridge. I regret this. I have attended several marriage ceremonies and I always find them interesting."
"I think I've only ever been to one wedding," said Maya. "A friend of mine, a girl who works in astrophysics, got married on Alpha a few months ago. Don't you find it all incomprehensible, Data?"
Data blinked his eyes at her, and put his head on one side. It was a curious mannerism that was unique to him. "Do you mean do I find it difficult to understand human romantic relationships? Although I am an android, I have had some personal experience of that kind of relationship with human women. I find it challenging, indeed fascinating. I can understand very well the desire for companionship, and the wish to have a compatible person with whom to share one's life. The emotional aspects, and the rituals and uncertainties of courtship, I can only observe."
"Then you're lucky."
"I remember that you expressed such a sentiment when we first met."
"Yes. It seems to me that you could appreciate the pleasant aspects of being with someone, without feeling the pain of the unpleasant things."
"That may be so. However, I would suggest that it would not be reasonable to pursue a potential partnership if pain and unpleasantness are all you experience."
"That, I'm coming to think, is a basic flaw in the human make-up." She drained her coffee cup and filled it up again, fighting her mood. She found it distinctly soothing to be with Data. Not only did he amuse her, his honestly gave her a great sense of security in talking to him and his genuine interest in everything charmed her.
"When Mr Verdeschi is ready to be shown around the Enterprise," said Data, "perhaps you would like to accompany us."
Maya nodded. It was pointless to be upset. Tony had black moods sometimes and she usually just left him alone until he came round. The problem was, she though, that they were no longer on Alpha. The familiar pattern of their life there, the physical confines of the corridors and little rooms and the routine of their duty schedules, no longer provided a structure. She felt a stab of nostalgia for the texture of Alpha - the very taste of the pseudo-coffee - and an equally sharp pang of envy for Data, who had duties to go to.
She went to see Helena, but she and the Commander were not in their quarters and she assumed that they were being 'looked after' and given the guided tour. She had decided to give Tony until lunchtime to catch up on his sleep, and in the end she could think of nothing to do but go back to the study room on deck twelve, where she had spent so much time while waiting for the Enterprise to reach Alpha.
She ran up some maths programmes, flicking through the problems without interest and solving them in her head. She was bored, and she was lonely. She wasn't going to give in to being miserable as well.
She sensed a presence and looked round. Will was standing in the doorway watching her.
Something jumped inside. She turned back to the screen, trying to control her reaction.
He smiled. "I thought I might find you here."
She said nothing.
He swung a chair underneath him and sat close to her. "I'm off duty now until we reach Lanthenon. Do you want to have lunch?"
Maya suppressed her first instinct to refuse, with a twinge of anger. If she started to ignore Will now, or behave differently towards him in any way, then she would be lending credence to Tony's suspicions. One part of her admitted there was some small truth in them, and that made her all the more determined to carry on as if there were not. But she paused too long.
"If, of course, you're not doing anything else," he added in a measured tone.
She noticed that her fingers were pressed white against the console, and she relaxed her hand. "At the moment," she said, "I'm not doing anything else."
"I'd been thinking," he said, "that when we got to Alpha, you'd be too busy with your colleagues and friends to have time to spend with me. And yet here you are, same as before."
"Everyone is very well catered for. You do a good job of making people feel welcome."
"That's one of the things Starfleet exists to do."
"Yes, I suppose so."
"Ten-Forward, then?" He stood up and held out his hand.
"No - not there. I - had breakfast there. Perhaps we could just go to your quarters."
He hesitated, then sat down again and leaned closer to her. She could feel his warmth. His eyes were serious. "Can I guess? Someone told your friend that we've been together a lot, and he's made some assumptions."
Overwhelmed and hot with embarrassment, Maya could not look up. She said, "It's ridiculous."
"You told him, I assume, that he's wrong."
"It's as if he doesn't believe me!" she said, in sudden frustration. "I don't know, Will, maybe he was just bad tempered because he was tired, lack of sleep can be disorienting, but I've never known him to be so - unapproachable."
"Jealously can be as irrational as it is powerful. That's the point of the opera we saw last night."
"But that's fiction, people don't really behave like that!"
"If you want to keep away from me," he said, gently, "I'll understand."
"No," she said firmly. "Why should I? It's all in his mind."
Riker was silent for a moment, as if thinking. She risked glancing round at him and saw that he was still looking at her intently, rubbing his beard. Pale blue eyes, she noticed suddenly, the colour of her own people's, not dark and alien. "I'm not a psychologist, far from it as Deanna will tell you," he said, "but I am older than you, probably quite a bit older, and I can guess I've had a lot more experience with people. And if someone starts to make you change your behaviour for fear of their reaction, that's the start of an attempt to control you. And that's a bad sign, for both of you."
Maya was about to say that Tony wasn't like that, but she knew that she had never been in this situation. On Alpha several men had made overtures to her, and a passing space trader had even tried to abduct her, but she had never - liked anyone in return before. Tony had always been protective of her, and she had rather appreciated it.
"It's odd," she said. "Data said something similar to me this morning."
"Data's not unperceptive, just because he's an android. In fact, he can bring the ultimate outsider's view to a human relationship." He grinned. "Let's go to the holodeck. Is that private enough?"
Riker ran the Psychon programme again, and they sat comfortably on the grass slope above Lake Tamyara eating quantities of a sweet red fruit from Earth called a strawberry. The fruit was served, as Will said was traditional, with cream. He had also brought a bottle of a chilled, sparkling wine called champagne. Maya had known about this drink before, though she had never seen any; it was used for celebrations. She sipped cautiously. Although she knew now that synthohol had nothing like the potency and lingering effects of genuine alcohol, she was still wary of it.
"It's okay," said Riker. "It's not real, I promise."
It had a cool, biscuity taste, and went well with the strawberries.
Riker touched the rim of his glass against hers. "Better now?"
"Yes."
"Fresh air, strawberries and cream, champagne - that'll cure almost anything."
"Fresh air is a novelty in itself, except that it's not real."
"Would you like it to be?"
"What do you mean?"
"Would you like to go to a place like this, a real place, on a real planet? A lake - mountains - blue skies - open air?"
"Where?"
"Lanthenon. We're arriving there soon. I've got twenty-four hours shore leave tomorrow, and I've already booked into a hotel there. I was going with Deanna, but she'll understand."
"Understand what?" said Maya, her tone rather cold, her heart thumping uncomfortably. She was taken aback by her own reaction of sudden racing excitement.
"Well, that you haven't been ashore for far too long. The hotel at Lake Gargatha is supposed to be a beautiful setting, and it's summer there just now."
"I don't think it would be possible, Will."
"Anything's possible, if you make it so. You're going to say that you can't, because Tony wouldn't like it? Doesn't he trust you? Doesn't he accord you that much respect? Doesn't he care about you enough to let you do something that would be for your own good?"
Confused, and feeling attacked, Maya said nothing.
"Come on," he said gently. "I'm sorry. Forget about it."
"No - I'll think about it."
"Talk to Tony. I'm sure he'll understand, if he loves you."
Maya let him fill up her half-empty glass. There was no answer to that, except the one that stabbed her briefly from inside.
She looked up at an electronic sound. The illusion of the lakeside scenery was ripped apart as the holodeck door materialised out of the air, and Data and Tony stepped through.
Tony's expression froze.
"I apologise for interrupting your lunch," said Data.
"Not at all, join in," said Riker, pleasantly. "Champagne, Mr Verdeschi? Or try the strawberries, they're very authentic."
Tony glanced at the proffered glass, then took two tentative steps across the grass. "Authentic?" he said. "You mean they're fake, like everything else in this place." He glanced around uneasily. "What's this, another trick? All done with mirrors?"
"That is not correct," said Data. "The illusion of reality created by the holodeck relies on a number of techniques, but the use of mirrors is not one of them. The principle mechanism is the assembly of basic matter via a process similar to that used in replicator systems, and controlled by complex computer arrays."
While Data explained, ignored, Maya went to Tony and took his arm. She was dismayed to have been found in Riker's company, but she was determined not to show it. "Tony," she said, "this is a place on Psychon. It's the lake at Tamyara, where I grew up."
He gave her one strained glance, cold and agitated, then looked around again without interest. "Uhu?"
In disappointment, she moved away from him.
"If you do not wish to eat," said Data, "perhaps you would like to start your tour of the ship. I am required to be on the bridge at fifteen hundred hours."
Tony assented with a gesture, and Maya followed them both out of the holodeck. She felt too awkward to say anything to Riker, but she looked back before the door closed. He raised a glass to her, and grinned.
The tour of the ship was appalling.
Maya trailed along beside Tony as Data led him through the wonders of the Enterprise, getting angrier and more ashamed by the minute. Tony showed no interest in the engine rooms, or the transporter rooms, the gardens, the observation gallery or the shuttlecraft. He delivered the odd acerbic comment but otherwise said nothing. Maya was mortified that Tony could fail to be impressed by the Enterprise, even that he obviously felt no pride in the achievements of his own people. It showed a lack of something as basic as imagination, and his attitude made him seem boorish and stupid. She was pained by what Data must think of him, and upset by what she was beginning to think herself.
When Data was summoned to the bridge, and they were left alone in the observation gallery, she turned on him. "Why are you being like this?"
"I would have thought that was obvious," he said, immediately heated, as if he too had been simmering with anger for the past hour. "I don't enjoy being made a fool of."
"What, you think I'm doing that?"
"How do you think it looked to the robot?"
"What do you mean?"
"Coming across you and Riker picnicking in the grass together."
"Don't be ridiculous, Tony."
"You know that he's already carrying on with someone else, don't you?"
"What?"
"That dark-haired officer, the shrink."
"Deanna Troi? He was involved with her once, but it's been over for a long time."
"That's not how it looked to me. On Alpha. I saw them together, she was practically sitting on his lap."
"You're wrong," said Maya, a bolt going through her. "They have a - platonic relationship."
"He told you that, did he?"
"Yes!"
"Oh, you're so bloody naive. Of course they don't. I don't care what century this is, people don't change, and I know his sort."
"You don't know him at all," he said, coldly.
"What's the matter with you, Maya? Since when did you start going for fat bearded oafs?"
"He's not fat! He's just large. It's all muscle."
"Oh, and how would you know that?"
"I've been swimming with him."
"Swimming?"
"Yes. Twice." She glared at him. "I'm going back to my quarters."
"Yeah. See you."
She walked quickly away, not even wanting him to follow her - knowing that she was leaving him stranded in a remote part of the ship, and hoping that he stayed lost for a long time. She took the turbolift straight down to deck nineteen, but headed for Helena's quarters instead.
Helena answered the door in a long party dress, an appearance which caused Maya to make a mental doubletake.
"I'm figuring out what to wear for this royal reception tonight," she explained. "This isn't it."
"Oh, the replicator can make any style you want in exactly your size - have you found out how to access the fashion database?"
"No, that's your department. Show me."
Glad to be useful again, even in a trivial capacity, Maya activated the big screen and called up the replicater's pattern bank. She flipped through examples of formal wear, and they were soon laughing at most of them.
"When I think of how we all swapped dresses on Alpha," said Helena.
"And none of them ever fit me," Maya added.
"And now all we have to do is press a button - it's wonderful. Or it would be, if any of them were worth wearing. That's very nice, what you've got on. I like the way you've got your hair, too."
Reminded by this of what Tony had said to her, her temporary levity evaporated. Part of her wished now that she had just stayed with him then. But she would have missed the experience of seeing the opera, and for no other reason than humouring his caprice. Will was right, it was an attempt to control her.
"How about this one," she said, bringing up the image of a soft blue shimmering dress that clung closely round the imaginary model on screen. She knew that Helena liked to show off the trimness of her figure.
"It's too long."
"No, that's what women wear here. We can replicate it, and if you don't like it, we can just recycle it."
"As simple as that. I must say, Maya, you seemed to have made yourself quite at home on the Enterprise. But you always pick things up quickly."
"I like it here," said Maya, as she activated the replicator. "The people are kind, like the Alphans - well, they are your people, in essence. And, to be honest, I haven't had much else to do." She lifted the dress out and presented it to Helena.
Helena held it up critically, then started to take off what she was wearing. "I heard," she said, "that you've been getting on very well with one of them."
"Oh, you too!" Maya cried in annoyance. "Has no-one on this ship anything better to do than spread rumours about me and Commander Riker?"
"Well," said Helena, in her calm way, pausing with the dress folded over her arm, "I saw you with him last night, and I thought you looked friendly. I'm interested, that's all. And, if you want the truth, I am a little concerned."
"There's no need."
'Well, good." She stepped into the dress, and twisted her head round. "Where's the zipper?"
"There isn't one. It comes together by itself."
"A great advance for women. I often think only a man could have invented the zipper that comes up the back. What do you think?" She smoothed the material over her hips and looked at her reflection in the mirror complacently.
Maya lacked this confidence that Helena had, a feeling of satisfaction with her own appearance. "It suits you," she said, sincerely.
"Yes, it does. I'll take it. What are you going to wear?"
"I don't know - something."
"Come on, let's look for something for you. After all, you have to look your best for Commander Riker."
"I do not!" She wasn't sure whether Helena was teasing or not. She often couldn't read her.
Helena smiled softly. "I hear he's quite a lady's man."
"Well, I don't know what that means. To me, he's always been perfectly kind and courteous - respectful."
"He's not as good-looking as Tony."
"That means nothing - especially to me!"
"True. So, you do like him."
"I like him - does it matter?"
"Not at all, so long as you don't intend to do anything about it - and just so long as Tony doesn't take it the wrong way."
The way she spoke told Maya that she had some idea of what had passed between them. Helena was unfailingly perceptive. Feeling herself blush, Maya said, her voice sounding slightly sullen to her own ears, "Tony doesn't own me."
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Helena shrug, and raise her eyebrows. Then she became solicitous about finding Maya a suitable dress, and Riker was not mentioned again.
Maya went, alone, to the observation gallery to see Lanthenon when the Enterprise fell out of warp. It was what Starfleet called an M class planet, capable of supporting humanoid life. She stood with many others and admired its pale violet hue silently.
Every time the moon had drifted near a planet like this - it had happened perhaps five or six times since she had been with the Alphans - hopes had been raised that it might prove to be a home that they could settle. She had talked with Will about this, and he had pointed out to her the improbability of that ever having happened. In her heart she had known that, but it had been the shared assumption. Everyone had plans, located in the middle distance of their imagination. She wondered how many of those dreams were disintegrating now, as hers seemed to be.
She was surrounded by Alphans. None of them, today, were wearing their uniforms, but she knew all their faces. She lingered there for nearly an hour, wishing that Tony would appear behind her and lay one hand on her hip and slip the other into hers. By now she was willing to do without a verbal apology. Eventually she saw Helena and the Commander climbing the curving stairs to the gallery. She left by the other staircase, not wanting to be seen so obviously waiting for someone who wasn't going to come.