He felt completely overrun. "So you've basically decided already?"
"I've decided for myself, but my solution can only work if you decide the same. And you have to do so regardless of my opinion, because this is something you have to stand behind, something we can't compromise on. We're not talking about buying a new bed." There was a short pause, and contrary to his usual behavior, Will didn't say anything at all. He had to let this sink in for a moment.
"And if you don't want the adoption, then I will- accept that.", she added more gently.
'Liar.', he thought. Maybe Deanna wouldn't argue with him about it, but it would be something that would stand between them forever. William didn't want such a disappointment to ruin everything they had just established, but it would be wrong to adopt an innocent child to save his marriage.
On the other hand, the thought of Lily being their daughter became more and more appealing to him. THEIR child. He would be a father. Was he even qualified for that? With aversion, he remembered his own father. How much of Kyle Riker was in him? Will had pondered about it many times, but this time was different, it was concrete. Lily was not the abstract baby somewhere up in his head, but a real person. His heart went out to the little girl.
He turned towards his wife, who had been looking at him all the time, trying to read his mind.
"It's a huge commitment, especially if it doesn't go well."
"Yes. And of course it wouldn't be perfect.", she replied. "It's a great responsibility."
"Sure." But in Will's imagination, he had already fallen prey to romantic illusions. Playing with Lily, laughter, shore leave on Pacifica, the touch of a smaller hand in his, teaching her Ka-Chi-va, cooking, showing her Alaska some day,… A bunch of possible situations, like school problems and curfew fights with a teenager welled up in his mind. Its charm was devastating.
Deanna smiled, squeezed his arm lightly, and stood up to leave the room, giving him time to think. But he held her back by grabbing her hand, and got up himself. "Looks like we're gonna have to get a new bed for the little one after all. The provisional one won't do."
"Are you sure?", she forced herself to ask, holding back her excitement.
"As sure as I'll ever be.", he grinned. "We'll make it work." His joy couldn't have been stronger.
And Will didn't need to be an empath to see that she felt the same way, too. Still, it almost caught him off guard when she gave him a passionate kiss.
Yet the computer voice disrupted the perfect moment once again. "This is the ten minute reminder."
"Perfect timing, as usual.", Deanna sighed. She seemed to have been interrupted a lot in the past few hours.
"The ten minute reminder for what?"
"My shift."
"Are you serious?"
"Does the captain of a star ship not know the time the shifts start?", she teased.
"The captain doesn't need to know. That's what the other officers are for."
Suddenly, he turned serious. "Wait a moment."
« What's wrong ? »
« There's something I have to discuss with you, Counsellor. »
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The Enterprise's conference room was filled with a small staff of officers. Captain Riker had decided for his first officer, the chief engineer, and the counsellor to come along. Picard, on the other hand, had Commander McGillen and Worf take part in the conversation. Apparently, he had not been promoted any further, but stayed the Enterprise's security officer. Instead, they had gotten an outside officer as a "replacement" for Data, as Will thought bitterly.
Kate McGillen was an attractive, self-confident woman in her early thirties. She had emerald eyes which showed liveliness and enthusiasm, and her light brown curls barely touched her shoulders. The pale skin was set through with a few, faint freckles that only seemed to underline her vivaciousness.
'The exact opposite of Data.', Riker stated mentally.
'She sure had a hard time at first, taking over this job.', Deanna thought.
But the mixed feelings about their return to the Enterprise soon became secondary, when certain obscure events were discussed.
"The great destruction and display of brutality was devastating.", Captain Picard informed them.
Worf's grim face was filled with anger, as he spoke through clenched teeth. "It was the most dishonorable kind of warfare. A typically Romulan act of…"
"Mr. Worf", his captain interrupted him calmly. "there was hardly any evidence suggesting that the Romulans were the attackers." He had well known that the Inugia incident would stir up his security officer's deep hate against them.
"Is the cowardice this murder was committed with not an evident proof?"
"It's enough, Worf.", Picard threw him a short, stern look. "We understood you." The Klingon was silenced, although his abhorrence was still obvious. Will had always admired Captain Picard's skill to remain calm in any situation and still be respected, even though he had thought him to be too stiff, especially in the early years of his command.
"It would be very helpful if you could give me access to the technical information about the weapons that were used on the Inugia settlement, Sir.", Lieutenant Chavelle remarked.
The Enterprise's captain nodded in Commander McGillen's direction. "The main part of the village was shot from some kind of star ship, using a weapon which functions through the heat-contact concept. Traces of trilithium were found on the ruins, so the weapon was probably of photonic nature. Getting in contact with hard matter, an immensely strong heat was produced, which led to explosions in many cases. But I'm not an engineer, maybe Commander LaForge could explain this better." The four officers from the Titan listened in surprise.
"That won't be necessary.", Riker replied. "We are familiar with the concept. It's the very same one that was used on the attack on the Silvershot a few weeks ago."
"Which attack?" Jean-Luc Picard frowned, this was news to him.
"You weren't informed about it?"
Will started telling a short version of the previous events. When he had finished, there was a repressing silence in the long room, until McGillen broke it.
"The people who attacked the settlement were also the attackers of this ship, and Starfleet's trying to cover it up for some reason." This woman was certainly direct.
"It would be pre-eminent to say so.", the captain of the Enterprise objected.
"There is enough evidence leading to that conclusion." Deanna had listened quietly up to this moment, but could not do so any longer. "Our assumption is justified, regarding the classification of the information, and the ship internal betrayal."
"Yet it is still an assumption." Picard folded his hands in a thoughtful gesture. "I do believe you, but if there is anything to be done against the-still unknown-enemy, we need more evidence."
"Captain, there's an urgent need of action, the Federation is endangered!", Worf exclaimed.
"You're right, but we can't go around shooting at every possible enemy who might target us.", Will stated.
"So we're just going to sit around and wait until they'll shoot us?" The Enterprise's second officer was glaring at him. 'She has to be one damn good officer if she got this far in Starfleet in spite of her big mouth.'
"No, Commander. I've already started the search for the person who overrode the authorization, and there will be several interrogations on the Titan.", Davenport informed her. "There's also a number of suspects who we suppose to be involved in the…conspiracy."
Worf and McGillen looked disbelieving and unsatisfied, Chavelle apprehensive, Troi and Picard merely thoughtful. In the end, they still weren't one step further than they had been at the beginning of the conference.
"The reason…", Deanna mumbled suddenly. Noticing the other officers staring at her, she extended her statement. "We have spent the past hour going over every tiny detail of the numerous murders on Fepris II. Most facts did not appear relevant so far, yet the two attacks have a lot of things in common. Therefore, there wouldn't have been any reason to classify information on the Inugia settlement, unless there was an important discovery made there which would replenish what we already know. Maybe an additional information on the attacker, a political crisis or something like that… I suggest we list the things present in the Inugia incident which were not obvious in the Silvershot investigation."
"Like the trilithium.", Chavelle added.
"Unfortunately, trilithium is used to build the majority of all weapons, it is found on a large number of planets…there's nothing unique about it." Ashley didn't see any obvious evidence.
"Some personal documents survived the attack. We should examine them closely, and start right away." Captain Picard stood up to give a clear sign that the conference was ended. "Mr. Worf, if you would transfer the files to the Titan's board computer."
"Aye, Sir."
As the officers were about to leave the room, Kate McGillen approached Will. "Captain Riker, I have heard much about you in the past few months. I'm glad to have made your acquaintance, finally." The superior officer didn't quite know what to think of that comment, it came as a surprise.
"My pleasure.", he answered. Watching her walk away, he had to admit that she was sort of nice after all. Will traded a wondrous look with his wife and ship's counsellor, who simply shrugged and turned away, smiling.
"You are welcome to stay on the Enterprise as long as you'd like to.", Captain Picard offered friendly, out in the hallway.
"Thank you, but the Titan should be fixed up by now. We have to get back." It was hard to withstand the temptation urging him to stay at his old home for just a little longer. He especially regretted not having greeted Geordi. But duty called once more…
His former superior nodded understandingly. "Those ships don't wait. How is it, by the way, having your first command?"
"It took some kind to get used to it, but it's great now. The Titan is a wonderful ship."
"Of course she is, nothing ever exceeds being a captain for the first time. I still remember my first ship as if it was yesterday…" His face took on a soft, exceptional expression.
"How did the new officers integrate into the old crew?", Deanna asked curiously, changing the subject.
The old man sighed. "It was quite a problem, as we had expected. They weren't exactly welcomed warmly. To be honest, I was probably the worst at giving them a hard time. But we accustomed to the situation, and they are accepted crewmembers. Although none of them will ever replace the former ones even closely."
"Don't expect too much of them.", Troi requested. "They have to find their own way of becoming good officers."
Picard smirked. "I knew you were going to say that. Always the counsellor."
They had reached the end of the corridor. "I would like to accompany you to the shuttle bay, but we are already behind on our schedule. If you'll excuse me now…I have a bridge to attend to. I will contact you if we find out anything else on the Inugia incident."
He took Will's hand into a firm handshake. "Thank you.", Riker uttered gratefully.
"There is nothing to thank me for. Good luck, num- Captain."
Deanna kissed Picard's cheek lightly. "Goodbye.", she said warmly.
"Until we meet again."
As he disappeared into the turbo lift, the remaining two officers went into the opposite direction towards the shuttle bay, where Davenport and Chavelle would await them. Perhaps they hadn't found out much new information, but an instinctive feeling told them that this stay on the Enterprise had been an important step. Yet they had no idea just how important this day would become.
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Hope all of you had a merry Christmas!! And just in case I won't have uploaded anything new by then: A Happy New Year to all of you!!!
Thank you for the helpful reviews.