Chapter 12

The emptiness of his quarters only reinforced that he no longer had any personal belongings. It occurred to him that his family still owned a vineyard on Earth, but right now that seemed very remote in both space and time. With his right hand he traced his fingers absently on a desk top, suddenly lost in his memories.

"If you would like to furnish your quarters the computer has many templates to choose from," said Data. "Geordi helped me to design my quarters," said Data.

"Who's Geordi?" Picard said absently, sitting down in a chair.

"He is the Chief Engineer," said Data. "And my best friend," he added.

Picard looked up at that. "You're an android. And yet you seek out human companionship?"

Data nodded. "Yes. Most beings I have encountered so far, require companionship of some kind."

Picard laughed and slapped his knees, getting to his feet. "Well, I suppose you've never met the Q then. When I was with them…well I went for a very long period during the first three years, where they simply watched me. I suppose at that stage I was some kind of laboratory creature to them. They rarely said anything to me, and eventually I stopped trying to communicate with them."

"Were you lonely?" asked Data.

Picard walked into his bedroom. "No. I mean, I don't know," he said distractedly. He looked down at a nightstand next to the bed, and his eyes fell on a large green book. It was the only personal item in the entire drab living space. He picked it up and ran his hand along the cover tracing the gold inlay of the title.

"The Complete Works of William Shakespeare," he read out loud. He'd seen this book before…but when? He flipped through it quickly, and then opened the inside of the front cover slowly. "From Jack, with love. Spring, 2343."

Picard wasn't sure why he agreed to attend the briefing that morning, but it may have had something to do with Data's refreshing lack of aggressiveness. He hadn't pelted him with questions and hadn't tried to pry information from him. He appreciated that. But first he had demanded that he be allowed to take a shower. Part of him expected an argument, but of course, Data had agreed to wait for him.

The sight of himself in the mirror had given him pause. He hadn't seen his own reflection in many years. They were right. It had been eleven years and he had not aged a day since being taken. And yet he felt hundreds of years old in a way. He had shaved, because his loss of immortality apparently translated to having to once again deal with the mundane daily chores of personal hygiene.

He had chosen hot water over a sonic shower, and in truth it was the most wonderful thing that had happened to him since arriving back in the world of humans. He then changed into soft civilian clothing, and by the time he stepped out of his quarters to meet Data, he almost felt like new.

"Captain Crusher has invited the officers of the Hood over for this meeting, sir. I mean, you," Data corrected himself.

He smiled at Data. "This should be moderately interesting then."

When Picard and Data walked into the briefing, it was clear that they were more than a few minutes late. Jack confirmed this point by announcing "you're late."

"My apologies, Jack. But I haven't had a real shower in eleven years."

"Well, I guess we should all thank you for taking your time then, Jean-Luc."

Seated around the table along with Jack Crusher, was Captain Riker of the Hood, sitting in between an exotic looking dark haired woman and the blond woman he'd seen in the interrogation room, who he assumed was Riker's first officer. Down the table sat a man with a visual prosthesis, Yar and Walker Keel, and across from them, Beverly Crusher and the Chief Medical Officer he had met earlier that morning, Dr. LaForge.

Data sat down next to the man with the visual aid, and Picard, not knowing where else to sit, sat down next to Dr. LaForge, who didn't look particularly happy to see him.

He leaned his head forward and made eye contact with Beverly sitting on the other side of the CMO, but she turned her gaze away from him after just a brief nod.

He told himself it didn't matter. In his left hand, Picard held a small synthetic rubbery ball that Data had given him. It was designed to look like a tiny planet, and for some reason he found it amusing to hold it in his hand.

To his surprise, Captain Riker actually looked like he was pleased to see him, which was a marked difference from nearly everyone else at the table. Riker nodded and smiled, silently throwing him a mock salute from across the table. The dark-haired woman next to Riker gazed at Picard with a curious expression, as though she was very interested in what he was thinking. Ah...an empath, he thought. Best of luck reading my mind….

Jack Crusher cleared his throat suddenly. "I want to thank Captain Riker and his officers for joining us today. Riker nodded amiably. In addition, Captain Jean-Luc Picard has returned to us after a very long absence. We welcome him back as a dear friend and colleague." There was some brief applause around the table. "This is just the start of the work we have to do to prepare ourselves to face the enemy we now know as the Borg."

Prepare…Picard chuckled softly to himself and sat back in his chair. They have no idea what is in store for them. Jack shot him an impatient look but continued.

"Tomorrow we will reach the border with the Klingon Empire, where I am told we will meet up with a Klingon bird of prey, whose crew captured a Borg soldier. We're hoping that exposure to the Borg prisoner will help us to learn more about them."

Picard perked up a bit at this. He had always liked Klingons. The Q were somewhat prejudiced toward them, but then the Q were prejudiced toward countless other lower life forms.

He turned his head slightly to regard Jack, who was still speaking. "But there is something else. A Federation human colony near the border was attacked a few days ago, and we're to go and investigate. The people around this table will comprise two away teams to the surface."

There were several quiet gasps around the table at the announcement of the attack on the colony. Picard studied his hands absently, half-listening. Jack nodded at Riker.

"By now, everyone here has read the reports of the other two planets attacked in the Romulan Neutral Zone," said Riker. "Unlike those two planets, this new colony is now missing a number of its inhabitants, while other colonists were left behind and killed. An emergency team from a passing ship already landed and found no survivors, but didn't have the resources for a thorough investigation."

"That's where we come in," said Jack.

Riker nodded. "That's right. We need to know why, in particular the Borg kidnapped a number of these civilians."

He looked directly at Picard at that, apparently expecting some kind of information. The rest of the officers also looked at him expectantly. Picard simply smiled, and tossed the tiny ball into the air, casually letting it fall back into his hand. Even Riker clenched his jaw in apparent irritation.

Jack glanced around the table, trying to ignore the odd behavior of his old friend who was inexplicably playing with a rubber ball. "This is a chance for us to brainstorm. So let's throw some ideas out, everyone," he suggested.

"Has anyone ever seen a Borg ship? I mean do we know how they travel?" asked Geordi. "We have to assume they have warp capability at least as advanced as our own, judging by the amount of planets they have hit in just a few days."

All eyes turned to Picard, who was now carefully rolling the rubber ball underneath his hand on the tabletop in an attempt to achieve a perfect circle. Perhaps he needed a tiny moon to complete his experiment. He was thinking about asking Data if he had one, when Yar said something that warranted a response.

"Why are the Borg now kidnapping people when they were simply incinerating them before?" Yar asked. "One theory is that they are capturing victims for study."

"Not likely," Picard said under his breath.

"Hey you…"

Captain Crusher turned to Data with a puzzled look. "Data, who are you talking to?"

Data pointed at Picard. "I am addressing him," he said. "He no longer prefers to be addressed by the usual titles of rank. I was about to ask him why it is unlikely that the Borg would capture the colonists for study."

Picard broke into a slow smile, which quickly faded, when he saw the level of aggravation in the eyes of the people around the table who were staring at him expectantly. "To suggest that the Borg want to study humans is very silly," he said.

"Are you calling me silly?" Yar said with a distinct edge.

"Only if you actually believe what you just suggested. That the Borg think humans are worth studying." He cleared his throat and squeezed the ball in his hand. "In any case, you won't learn much from one Borg," he said.

"Why?" Yar demanded.

"Think of the Borg as having a hive mentality. One Borg drone is simply a piece of a much larger culture," said Picard. "The individual has very little to offer. When one Borg drone is separated from the rest of the Borg collective, they will either return to the collective, or die trying."

"But what do they want with us?" Walker asked.

"I don't know," said Picard. "What do you have to offer them?"

"Dammit, Jean-Luc, you're acting as though you aren't a human being like the rest of us," said Walker.

Picard frowned. "There's no need to yell, Walker."

"Don't you care that the Borg are targeting humans now?"

Picard laughed. "Do you want to know how I feel, or do you want to know about the Borg? It's your choice."

Jack slapped his palm on the table. "Jean-Luc, this isn't a game, just tell us about the Borg! Or do we have to beg you, you arrogant bastard?"

"Well… when you put it like that old friend, of course I will tell you," said Picard, squeezing the little rubber ball tightly in his fist.

After the briefing, Jack watched from the bridge as Jean-Luc and Beverly stepped into the same turbo lift together, and continued to watch them until the doors shut.

As the turbo lift doors shut, Beverly said, "Deck 10…halt," she said on second thought. As the lift slowed to a gentle stop she turned to Jean-Luc. "That was quite the little show you put on in there. You don't care who you alienate do you?"

"Alienate? What an interesting choice of words."

"Are you still part of the Q or are you human?" she looked at him searchingly.

"I suppose you can think of me as human, more or less," he said. "At least for now," he added.

Beverly sighed loudly. "Okay…I'm not quite sure what you mean by that, Jean-Luc, but I suppose I have to take what I can get." Beverly hesitated. "Look, I am going to tell my son about you today," she said, speaking quickly.

She held her hands up, he guessed in an attempt to keep him from talking over her. "I'm going to tell him that you are alive and here on the Enterprise. And he is going to want to meet you, of course, to see his own father. And I know you made it clear to me last night that you are not going to accept that he is your son."

"It's not that simple."

"Yes it is…you are in so much denial that I doubt a genetic test would even get you to admit it."

"Beverly…I was never cut out to be a father before the Q took me. Now look at me. Do you really think I could do better than what Jack has done?"

"This isn't about you and Jack and your endless competitions. This is about your son."

Picard looked up at the ceiling. "If Wesley seeks me out, I will talk to him."

"Thank you. All I ask is that you don't hurt him."

"Beverly…"

"Don't hurt my son, Jean-Luc," she warned him, pointing her index finger at his chest.

"I have no intention of hurting Wesley," he said, looking her in the eye.

She nodded and seemed to relax to a degree. "Resume," she said, and the lift continued downward.

"But I can't promise you that he won't be confused after he talks to me," added Picard. "Because I am not going to lie to him."

"Halt," she said through clenched teeth, and the lift stopped abruptly. "And what is that supposed to mean? That I've been lying to him all of these years? That Jack has been lying to him? Jean-Luc, we thought you had been killed. We told Wesley once he turned seven. We told him who his real father was because we wanted to honor you, Jean-Luc—"

"Honor me?" he laughed so harshly, that she took an involuntary step back. "If he was really my son, isn't it too bad you had to wait until I was gone to tell him? And you had to wait until I returned from the dead to tell me?" He slammed the side of his fist into the wall of the turbo lift. "Resume!"

"You didn't want to hear it, Jean-Luc! You and your career were the only things that mattered to you."

"Oh no, you are so wrong, so wrong," he said, looking down at the floor and shaking his head.

"Halt! How?" she demanded. "How am I wrong?"

"Resume," he said quietly. "I did want to hear it, Beverly. In fact it was all I wanted to hear. And I asked you. But you told me it was Jack. You chose Jack." The lift finally stopped at its destination.

He turned to leave, but she reached out and grabbed his hand. He turned to her in surprise. "Yes, Jean-Luc, I chose Jack. And I've regretted it for as long as I can remember."

"Well you can stop now," he said quietly retrieving his hand from hers. "As far as I'm concerned, you made the right decision to be with Jack. Besides…that's all in the past now." He turned and left her standing in the corridor.