Though she was usually a fitful sleeper, Tasha had been still all night, curled around Data like a clinging vine. He had tried to gently extricate himself several times, but she had only clung more tenaciously to him in her sleep. Her knees trapped one of his, and she had both arms wrapped around his waist, and her head rested firmly on his chest. They were both naked, and he received regular prompts to dress from his modesty subroutine. It made him slightly uneasy. The only saving grace was the constant input of skin-to-skin contact – Tasha was soft, warm, and altogether nice to hold. Her lips were parted, and he felt the warmth and moisture of her regular exhalation. Her hair was longer than usual, falling over her eyes, and stirred with her breath. The fine strands brushed his skin from time to time.
Data kept track of the estimated approach of the Tarellian ship through his internal chronometer. He would have preferred to synchronize his estimate with the information from the ship's sensors, but another spasmodic tightening of Tasha's grip on his waist greeted his attempt to move away. She nuzzled her head against his body, and he watched her with lowered eyelids. Tasha had been passionate about their physical reconciliation, and had gotten to sleep very late as a result. She was a reciprocal partner, always attentive to his enjoyment, not put off by the fact that his experience was bereft of physical pleasure. She accepted his unique perception of their coupling as different from hers, but no less important. Data had observed that Tasha never questioned his personhood; she considered him as fallible as any biological being, and had never treated him with any special deference for his inorganic origins. She was acutely interested in his personal preferences, and demanded that he express opinions about what she did to him. He had quickly learned that it was better to make a choice and express a preference than to tell her the blunt truth, that he liked all of her actions equally well. Mitigating Tasha's temper was a much higher priority than keeping to the bare facts in the interest of serving the truth.
The time was approaching when Data knew that they would be called to the bridge. He decided to try to wake Tasha. He stroked her back and bent to whisper her name in her ear. She responded instantly with a sharp intake of breath, her eyes snapping open. She relaxed and smiled as she realized where she was, and sighed and stretched, finally releasing him.
"Hi, Data." She ran a hand through his hair, mussing it with her fingers. "Is it time?"
"Soon." He submitted without protest to her caresses. "I thought it best to return to my quarters before we are called to the bridge, but you would not let me go."
"You got that right," she replied, her voice fuzzy with sleep. "I'm never gonna let you go."
By 0600 hours, the Enterprise was orbiting Haven with the Tarellian ship in tow. The captain would have preferred to wait for a later hour, out of consideration for the sleeping groom, before ordering Wyatt to the bridge to confirm Counselor Troi's supposition that the Tarellian woman Arianna was the one from Wyatt's drawings, but the timing couldn't be helped. They all waited in suspense for the young man to respond to the order.
"If this isn't the most bizarre week I've ever had, I don't know what is," Geordi said quietly to Data.
"More bizarre than visiting a space station that revealed itself to be comprised of an alien entity?" Data asked.
"Different. Just imagine you've been seeing some dream babe in your mind your whole life, and then you meet her."
"I cannot imagine. It is bizarre," Data conceded.
Hours later, Deanna joined her parents-in-law-to-be in a banquet room. Chairs were set in rows for the bonding ceremony, with a podium at the front and a few decorations already in place. The setting seemed appropriately sparse and somber to her – she had felt Wyatt's heart turn the moment he saw the mysterious Arianna in the viewscreen. His whole body language had changed – the nervousness and shyness had fallen away, and he had relaxed for the first time since he'd come onboard. Since that fateful moment on the bridge, he had closed his mind to Deanna. She felt herself at a low point: she was leaving her new friends and her Imzadi to join her life to a man whose feelings for her were ambiguous at best. There was always her work – she could practice psychology no matter where they lived – but what she would be giving up to honor her vows…
She tried to attend to the Millers, who were talking over the details of the ceremony with more zeal than she could even begin to feign. The Millers were good people, she could tell. Deanna felt their love for their son, their acceptance of her as a new daughter, and their hopeful anticipation for the next step of their life as grandparents. They were good people, but they were prosaic. They did not share her relish for the unknown, her love of challenging her mind, feelings that had drawn her to Starfleet and the mysteries of exploring the galaxy. They would treat her kindly, but they would never understand her. This bonding ceremony would take her irrevocably away to a new life, a much different life than she'd envisioned for herself when she'd signed on to the Enterprise. She felt the pain of it as though they were arranging a funeral for her old self.
Wyatt came in through the door, his hands full of medical supplies, and Deanna immediately sensed his turmoil and resolution. She knew instantly that her future was in flux once more.
Beverly was in her office when she heard the call over the comm. "Medical emergency in main transporter room. Chief Ryder is unconscious."
"I'm on my way." Beverly grabbed a med kit and rushed out of sickbay. "Medical to Security: meet me in transporter room one."
Beverly and Tasha reached the transporter room at the same time. Chief Ryder was on the ground, just coming around, with Ensign Jae crouched over him with a tricorder. The chief opened his eyes.
"Don't try to move," Dr. Crusher cautioned him, probing him with her tricorder. "What happened?"
"Dr. Miller came in with the medical supplies like you said, Doctor. Then he hit me with a hypo – I don't remember anything else." He squeezed his eyes shut again.
"Ambizine. The effects will wear off soon, Chief. He gave you a very small dose." The doctor replaced the probe in her tricorder and helped him sit up.
Tasha was standing at the control console with a look of shock as she read the display. "Wyatt beamed over to the Tarellian vessel. Doctor, he's trapped over there. He can never come back."
Beverly looked at her with sadness. "It must have been his plan. He wanted to help cure the Tarellians . . ."
"But he can never return from that ship," Tasha repeated.
Beverly shared a look with her. "He must have known that, Lieutenant. There's nothing we can do."
Deanna and Will walked away from the transporter room, having said goodbye to the Millers and Lwaxana. The captain had prudently returned to the bridge ahead of them, leaving them alone together. The two walked slowly, both lost in thought. The silence became uncomfortable.
"Are you relieved that I've been jilted?" Deanna asked wryly.
"If you can feel my relief, then you must also feel my anger. I still don't know why you agreed to go through with it in the first place," Will replied.
Deanna stopped in the empty corridor and folded her arms. "Haven't you ever made a promise that you felt obliged to keep?"
Will didn't flinch from the accusation in her dark eyes. "Deanna, when will you stop punishing me for that? It's been over two years now . . ."
"When will you realize how much I suffered? And you would do it to me again, if I gave you the chance."
"You don't know that."
"I know you." Deanna started walking again. Will followed her. "I won't be caught again in a contest with your career. I know what will win out."
Will took her hands and stopped again. "Imzadi, you could give me a chance – you could give us a chance. We could make it work. We'll never know if we don't try."
"Bill, it's no use." Deanna withdrew her hands from his. "There's a saying on Betazed, that you can never make whole what's been broken; the cracks will always show." She looked at him with her heart in her eyes. "You don't know how long I held out hope, those years when we were apart, that we would be together again, and things would be as they once were between us. It was one of the hardest things I've had to do in my life, to finally let go of that hope. To let go of my feelings for you. To admit that it was really over. I can't go back, Bill. I just can't let you hurt me again."
He felt her words like a sharp slap. He shook his head. "Call me Will. Everyone else does." He strode away down the hall. He would easily have outpaced her, had she followed. Deanna stood still instead, and watched him go.
With only a day and a half left of their sojourn at Haven, Tasha was eager to get to the planet's surface and enjoy what time she could take. She got in the turbolift, fully outfitted for a rock climb, carrying a small overnight bag in one hand and her climbing gear on her back. The doors opened to admit Deanna. She was casually dressed in a lavender one-piece suit, with her curly hair down around her shoulders.
"Hi, Troi! Are you headed planetside, too?" Tasha asked.
"Mm-hmm. I didn't tell my mother, though. I've had enough family for the time being." Deanna adjusted the shoulder strap of her bag.
"Where are you staying?" The doors opened on deck six and both officers got off.
"At the big resort on the beach. What about you?" Deanna asked.
"I think I'm at the same place. There's a shuttle that will take me there from the cliff I'm going to climb. I'm going to beam straight to the bottom of the rock face, before I lose the light. Maybe you could take my bag?"
"Of course." Deanna took it from her. "Sorry that your leave got cut short because of me. I feel a little guilty for involving the whole bridge crew in my own personal drama."
"Don't feel guilty. We thought that you were leaving us. We wouldn't have let you go without spending as much time with you as we could," Tasha replied. "I'm so glad you're staying with us instead. I'm sure everyone is."
They had reached the main transporter room. The officers greeted the crewperson on duty. "I am, too. As strongly compelled as I felt to honor my vows and bond to my father's choice in a mate for me, I'm very grateful that things took such a strange turn," Deanna admitted.
Tasha stepped onto the transporter pad. "I'm beaming straight to the rock face at 211 mark 059. Keep a lock on my signal. I'm going to begin my climb right away. Beam me out if I get into trouble, okay?"
"Aye, sir," the assistant chief replied.
"See you at the hotel, Troi."
"See you tonight," Deanna agreed.
"Energize." Tasha disappeared in a shimmer of light.
Deanna walked into the seaside hotel room, dropped her bag on the floor and went through double glass doors to stand on the balcony. She inhaled a deep breath of salty air. The sun was high in the cloudless sky, reflected on the water in a long, sparkling ribbon. Haven was just the paradise it was reported to be. She wished that the legends of its healing powers were true – she felt heart-sore at the moment. As much as she was gratified to be staying on the Enterprise, she felt a pang at the sight of the beautiful seashore, and the spacious, well-appointed room. It was the perfect romantic spot for two, and there she was, alone. She sighed and went back inside the room, opened her bag, and pulled out her swimsuit. She was sure that the tropical colors of exotic sea life would heal her as well as any fairy tale magical power.
Data entered the main transporter room and walked to the control console. "Chief, is Lt. Yar rock climbing on the planet?" he asked.
"Aye, sir," she replied.
Data nodded. "Do you have a lock on her signal?" He looked casually over the assistant chief's shoulder.
"Yes, sir." She looked back at him. "Would you like to check?"
"If I may." She moved aside for him. Data watched the coordinates as they increased in a slow vertical climb, and noted the tiny representational blip on one screen. "Thank you, Chief. As you were."
She re-took her post, but Data still had not left. "Is there anything else, sir?'
"I believe I shall stay and perform an inventory of the supplies in the storage units."
"Inventory is not scheduled for another four weeks, sir."
"Yes, I know. I am off-duty, however. It seems like a worthwhile employment of my time." Data moved to the back wall and removed the first storage panel cover.
The assistant chief shrugged and turned back to the console. Data got to work, casting frequent glances back at the console's readout.