Data and Geordi looked at the wall of weapons. The morning sunlight glinted on the hewn metal surfaces and made them look deceptively decorative.
"Did you notice that the captain didn't specify how we're supposed to analyze these things with no tricorder?" Geordi asked. "I'm not all for running my finger along the edges."
"Perhaps the Ligonians would allow us to beam one weapon back to the Enterprise for analysis," Data suggested.
"Can't hurt to ask." Geordi turned to his friend. "Doesn't this all seem a little unreal?"
Data nodded. "But it is real, and as you pointed out, it is not a joke."
Beverly waited in transporter room two. On the transport pad, an object materialized: a metal scimitar with short, jagged teeth on its lower edge.
"Barbaric," she said with disgust. She bent down to take it.
O'Brien stood at the console. "Careful, Doc."
She threw him a look over her shoulder and, touching it by only the handle, slid the weapon into her sample case. "This whole exercise is ludicrous. How many people will die while we play their stupid game?" she asked bitterly.
The door opened, and one guard stood in the entryway. "Captain Picard requests your presence."
Tasha stood. The guard stepped aside to let her pass. He led her through the center place, where she heard a familiar voice.
"Tasha!" Geordi took two quick steps toward her, but three guards sprang to life, immediately surrounding him. "Whoa. Sorry," Geordi said, his hands up.
Tasha leveled warning looks at the guards, and they backed off, two of them returning to their posts beside two massive gongs hanging in frames. The third moved a respectful distance away.
Geordi raised his eyebrows. "I was going to hug you, but never mind. I'm just glad you're all right."
"I'm glad to see you, too, Geordi," replied Tasha. She walked with him to the wall of weapons, where Data was standing. Her heart leapt into her throat, but she didn't want to say or do anything that would give her away. She came nearer and fought the impulse to throw her arms around him.
Data showed no change of expression as he watched her approach. "Tasha. It is good to see you."
"It's good to see you, too, Data." She clenched and unclenched her fists.
"Are you feeling okay, Tasha?" Geordi asked.
She turned back to him. "I'm fine, considering. What do you think of the art work?"
"Dr. Crusher is analyzing one of these weapons back on the Enterprise," Geordi replied.
"Back on the Enterprise," Tasha repeated. It sounded like paradise. "Was she able to replicate the vaccine?"
"No. And the last reports we got from Styrus IV estimated the death toll in the millions, if we don't respond soon."
"Geordi, no!"
"I'm sorry. It's true. The fate of a whole planet is riding on this fight."
"Do you have to remind me?" Tasha turned to the guard. "I'm ready." But she hesitated, and looked back at Data.
"We must remain here and continue our analysis of the weapons," Data said.
"Understood." She turned away and followed the guard through the compound.
Picard and Troi were sitting in low, backless chairs when Tasha entered. They rose to meet her.
"You called for me, Captain?"
"Lieutenant, how would you judge your rapport with Yareena?" Picard asked her.
Tasha looked at Deanna and back at the captain. "I'm pretty sure she hates me, sir."
"Well, I would like for you to try to reason with her. It is our duty to approach violence as a last resort. Perhaps if you explain the dire situation on Styrus IV to Yareena, she will put aside her hate and withdraw the challenge."
Tasha looked at Deanna again. "Wouldn't this be a better job for Counselor Troi?"
"I have no established relationship with Yareena," Deanna said. "You do."
Tasha sighed. "I'll do my best."
"That's all I ask. Our options are limited, and time is not on our side," replied Picard.
"Yes, sir." Tasha walked to the door and left with the guard.
The meeting with Yareena went even worse than Tasha had imagined. She had barely been able to get out a full sentence. Yareena was fiercely proud, and Tasha felt that she hadn't done more than anger the other woman. In truth, she felt angrier herself. Tasha walked back to the captain's guest quarters with a guard shadowing her. Geordi and Data were there with Picard and Troi.
"She won't budge," Tasha reported. "She loves him, without reservation." Her eyes went involuntarily to Data. "And she thinks I love him, too."
Data held her gaze. "Most interesting. Do you?"
"Of course I don't, Data! As Troi pointed out to me, I'm attracted to him, but that's entirely different."
Over Picard's comm. badge came, "Riker to Captain."
"Go ahead, Riker. We're alone," Picard replied.
"We're fine-tuned enough to see your hosts gathering in the open area outside, sir. Three of them are heading for your location."
"Thank you, Number One." Picard looked at Tasha. "Lieutenant, you still feel that you want to go through with this challenge? You judge your condition good?"
"I judge it excellent, sir," Tasha replied with conviction.
The door opened, and Hagon entered with two guards bearing four red lacquered boxes.
"Your weapons, Lt. Yar," Hagon announced with an outstretched hand. "You may choose your size." They turned and left.
All five officers approached the ominous-looking boxes. Tasha opened one. The weapon inside would have fit in on Qo'noS – she briefly wished that Worf were there to see it. It was made to fit over the arm and hand, topped by a spiked mace ending in a hook. It was ugly and deadly, like a spiny prehistoric bird. She began to take it out by its gauntlet.
"Tasha, don't touch the spines," Geordi warned. "They're poisoned. If you're not careful, you could kill yourself."
Tasha shook her head, her eyes on the brutal metal surface. "These I understand."
A noise through the open window attracted their attention. In the center place, an arena had been erected, where Yareena was practicing with the spiked, horned glavin. She grunted and swung, graceful and vicious, on the poles of the fighting cage. The officers crowded together to watch her. Deanna threw a look of concern at Tasha, who met her eyes, feeling more trepidation than she had moments before.
Tasha stepped away from the window. "I'd better go warm up," she said to Picard.
He nodded, looking thoughtfully out the window. "Mr. Data, you sent a weapon to the Enterprise for analysis?"
"Yes, sir. Dr. Crusher sent it back with a tricorder containing the results."
The captain tapped his communicator. "Picard to Dr. Crusher."
"Crusher here."
"Doctor, the Ligonian poison – could you synthesize an antidote?"
"Yes, sir. I still have the results in the lab."
"Make it so. Stand by for further instructions." He turned to Deanna. "Counselor, I believe I may have a plan. I'll need your help to organize the details."
"Yes, sir."
"Geordi, I'd like you to take a look at the arena. See if there are any hidden dangers we should be aware of. Hagon didn't mention to us that the weapons were poisoned. They may be withholding other information."
"Aye, sir."
"We'll reconvene here in a quarter of an hour." They began to disband.
Tasha turned to Data. "A word, Commander?"
"Of course." They walked to the door. The guard did not remark Data's presence, and turned away as usual after depositing the two of them in Tasha's room. The door slid shut behind him.
Tasha finally let loose. "What the hell was that back there? Right in front of the captain!"
"To what are you referring?" Data calmly asked.
"As if you don't know. Asking me if I'm in love with Lutan. Have you lost your mind?"
Data cocked his head. "It was a legitimate question. You admitted that you are attracted to him."
"So? If I didn't know you any better, I'd say that you were jealous!"
"Lower your voice, Tasha," Data said with a hint of command. "You do know me, as well as one person may know another, in every sense of the word. You know that I am incapable of jealousy."
"But you are capable of feeling a sense of ownership. You can possess things. It's practically the same thing."
Data walked to her, until he was standing close enough to touch her. "Have I not possessed you?"
Tasha stared at him wide-eyed, struck dumb.
Data went on. "Have you not begged me to take you? I could replay the sound files from my memory record, if necessary. I have had you – are you not mine?"
Tasha opened her mouth to speak, but no words would come out. The universe had suddenly shrunk down to just the two of them, alone in a room with a magnetic pull between them. She closed the distance, pulling his head down to hers.
The noise of the opening door surprised her. Tasha took an awkward step back, while Data let his hands fall back to his side.
Deanna entered, and looked from one to the other with pure confusion on her face. "Umm…I was…ah…looking for Geordi."
"The captain sent him to analyze the fighting arena," Data answered without a trace of embarrassment.
"Of course. Excuse me." Deanna rushed back out.
As soon as the door closed, they were in each other's arms again. Tasha pressed a long, closed-mouth kiss on Data's lips, holding his face between her hands. She bent her head back to look at him, and then kissed him again. She finally let go.
"I can't deny that I'm yours for the taking, as much as you're mine." She stroked his cheek and wiped her lipstick from his lips with her thumb. "But you don't own me. You have to let me be free."
"You should not go through with the challenge," Data said quietly.
"I must. But you have to believe that I'm doing it for the right reasons. Lutan wants to pretend that this is some kind of love triangle, but it's not. He's embroiled us in his own selfish quest for power, at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives."
"Inquiry: Love triangle?"
"It means a romantic situation where two people compete for the affections of one."
"Ah." Data thought for a moment. "I count at least six competing interests in this situation. It is not a love triangle. It is more like a love polyhedron."
Tasha laughed.
"That was not meant as a joke," Data added.
"Oh, Data. I've missed you." Tasha slid her arms around him and clasped her hands behind his back.
"I have missed you, too." He bent to kiss her again, his hands on the small of her back, pulling her close.
She broke their embrace and put her forehead to his lips. "Don't rile me up right now. I have to get into the zone."
He nodded, but did not let her go.
Outside, Deanna had wandered close to the surrounding forest, trying to gather her thoughts. She had sensed anger coming from Tasha's room, followed by lust, and Deanna had rushed to help her friend. She had thought that she would find Lutan or someone else menacing Tasha, and had been shocked to find her alone.
Well, not alone. Alone with Data. The fact of Data's existence often struck Deanna as whimsical. He was more of a curiosity to her than a person. When she looked at him, it was like looking at a picture – he was just an image of a human, a blank. In the short time that she'd known him, she was beginning to see that he might be something more, but she couldn't help but feel an undercurrent of amusement in reaction to almost everything he said or did.
What she had sensed from Tasha was anything but amusement. Waves of desire had been emanating from her, desire, and love. Their conversation from Tasha's second counseling session suddenly popped into Deanna's mind. Hadn't Tasha agreed that her infatuation with Data was misguided at best? Tasha had agreed to follow Deanna's advice to drop it, but had obviously not made good on that agreement.
Deanna continued to walk in the deepening twilight. There was no mistaking the nature of desire that she'd sensed. Tasha was generally easy to read; Deanna could sense only intense emotions, and Tasha was a passionate person. That passion had been directed at Data. Was it reciprocated? Was that even possible?
She shook her head in disbelief. Should she tell the captain? If their work were unaffected, it would be no more than idle gossip. Deanna had no desire to make Tasha the center of a rumor – it would be counterproductive to the self-confidence that they were both working so hard to build up. Deanna decided to keep quiet. If it became a problem for the ship, it would be her duty to speak to the captain. Whether or not she would speak to Tasha about it was a different question.
The five officers stood in a loose circle in the captain's room. Picard was wrapping up his briefing cum pep talk. Tasha had tied a black band around her forehead, wisps of fair hair cascading over the edge. She felt the tingle of electricity plus the nervous stomach that came on before every athletic match or difficult away mission. She was hyperaware of her body. She could feel the currents of air in the room on her skin, the pliancy of her muscles, the breath flowing in and out of her lungs. She felt powerful and frightened all at once.
"Mr. Data, retrieve Dr. Crusher's tricorder and beam back to the ship. Make it as unobtrusive as possible. Brief Riker and Crusher on the plan, and do it quickly. We may have only minutes now," Picard ordered.
"Aye, sir." Data looked Tasha in the eyes. "Good luck."
"Thank you," she replied.
He took a moment to memorize her. There was a slight probability that she would fail, that the antidote would not work, and that this was the last time he would see her alive. He wanted to place weight on the moment as more than just another instance that he could recall later with perfect clarity. He wanted to preserve the gravitas of the situation. To his human observers, Data paused for a second. To him, it was a long expanse of intentionally lived time.
Will, Beverly, and Data stood staring at the empty pad in transporter room one, listening to constant updates from mission ops over the comm.
"They've stopped moving. Two people are carrying away a third. Life signs from the third have faded.'
"How long did that take, Data?" Will asked.
"18 seconds and 11 milliseconds, sir." Data replied.
Beverly sucked air through her teeth. "My god."
Will looked at her. "Work fast when they materialize. Don't hesitate."
Beverly nodded.
The voice of the officer at mission ops came over the comm. "Combat has resumed. They're moving fast. No! Lt. Yar is down!"
Beverly took a step toward the transporter pad, her face suddenly drained of color.
"False alarm. She's up again. They're both moving fast. No! Interference – working on it – got the lock back. Still moving fast. Wait – Yareena is down, sir! Lt. Yar has stopped moving; that's the signal, sir!"
"Energize!" ordered Riker.
The prostrate bodies of Yareena and Tasha shimmered into being on the transporter pad.
A/N: Words taken directly from Code of Honor written by Katheryn Powers and Michael Baron.