The Captain had told her to take the turbolift to the bridge and he would greet her there, but when the time came, Lilly found that she was nervous. 1300 hours was one in the afternoon, and that was a little too close to 'everyone important will probably be on duty' for her tastes. If she showed up at the bridge and Riker told her to leave, was that a situation where she should simply leave and then clear it up later, or did she have the standing to argue that she had a meeting to attend?
When she got there, though, Riker was not there.
"Extended lunch," Picard had said under his breath when he greeted her at the turbolift door.
"That is brilliant," she said. The captain moved aside so she could walk onto the bridge. The surprising thing to her was the floor not being flat, which drew her eye toward the highest part. The configuration made sense in a space meant to maximize the viewpoint of its occupants, she supposed, but it took a bit of getting used to. Picard led her up to where Worf was standing, and she smiled brightly at him.
"Good afternoon, Worf," Lilly said. "Wait, do we say that on a starship?" She looked over at the captain, but he was preoccupied with a panel near Worf.
"Good afternoon," Worf said, nodding at her.
"You're not going to tell me, are you?" she said, looking between the two men. "Just for that, I'm going to figure out how to say something really crazy in Klingon and play dumb when I ask you what it means."
"As long as you do not expect me to translate it around the Commander," Worf said quietly.
"It's a deal," Lilly said, equally quietly. After the tactical station, Picard took her down the ramp toward his chair, which she didn't even pretend she wanted to sit on. It was clearly the place most powerful in both military protocol and actual power, two things that she could tell Captain Picard cared deeply about properly stewarding. "There are more seats here than I noticed at first!" she remarked.
"Mm, yes. All of the bridge crew have a seat, including Counselor Troi and Doctor Crusher," Picard said. He seemed to be waiting for her to notice something.
When Lilly had first walked onto the bridge, she had been so pleased to see the Klingon officer that she hadn't really taken in the view of the whole room, including the viewscreen that dominated the space. While they walked down the ramp, the captain had explained that there were a surprising number of controls hidden in the mechanisms of his chair, so she hadn't noticed the screen then, either. Now, following the captain's gaze, she turned her head and was completely dazzled by the image in front of her.
The viewscreen showed a planet very like Earth. It was alive; the clouds moved, and the topography changed as the ship made its way in orbit. It took Lilly staring at the view for a full minute before she realized that this was really happening- this wasn't a computer generated image in the way she would have termed it in her own time. Clearly, this wasn't a window, but this view was seen by some sort of camera that the ship's computer was projecting on the viewscreen. It was really there.
"I thought you might like it," Picard said in a hushed voice beside her.
"I do," she said, feeling like simply agreeing with him wasn't vehement enough. She looked over at him, feeling like she had visible hearts showing in her eyes, and the look that Picard had on his face told her that he absolutely understood. "I would fight to keep this future possible. I would fight to my last breath," she whispered, her gaze drawn back to the planet. She felt like she could feel the captain watching her reaction, but she couldn't look away from the view of a planet she didn't know the name of, in a star system she had probably never heard of, possibly even in a galaxy that was undiscovered by the astronomers in her own time.
The two of them simply stood there for another few minutes until a Starfleet officer who had been seated at one of the two consoles nearest the viewscreen stood up.
"Ahh, Data. Lilly, this is Lieutenant Commander Data. Data, this is my niece, Lilly," Picard said, holding his arm out in introduction.
Lilly supposed it would get easier to hear herself referred to in this way eventually, but she did wonder if it bothered Picard to lie. Then she remembered that he'd told her about briefing the bridge crew on her true identity.
"It's lovely to meet you," Lilly said. Data's skin was definitely 'wrong looking' in a way that made her realize he was different, and his yellow eyes were kind of frightening, but the way his eyebrows shot up and he nodded at her in greeting was polite.
"It is good to meet you. I have configured a PADD for you, a portable tablet computer. Would you like to sit down while I tell you about it?" Data asked.
"I'd love to, thank you," Lilly said. She turned to look at the captain, and he smiled briskly, nodding at Data.
"You're free to use my ready room. You won't need me for now."
Data led her to a door in the wall near the viewscreen. As soon as she walked in, she got the sense that this space was 'lived in' by Picard; there was a display case for a full copy of Shakespeare and a couple of models of futuristic-looking spacecraft. She walked over to one of them and shook her head, letting out a small laugh.
"What is it?" Data asked.
"I just realized I have no idea what the ship looks like," Lilly said. "If I were more into engineering I could probably figure out the angle of the hull based on the windows, but maybe not."
"The model you are looking at is similar. I do not believe it would be a violation of your restrictions to show you an image of the exterior. As you said, once you have spent some time on the ship, you might learn enough to approximate some of its shape just by experience."
"That would be pushing it, I think," Lilly said, laughing.
"Do you wish to sit near the desk, or on the couch?" Data asked.
"The couch is fine," Lilly said, walking over to where Data was standing. She sat down and he sat beside her, handing her a version of the flat device she'd seen Worf using in Sick Bay on her first day on the ship. He tapped at it and an image of a spacecraft with a very similar shape to the wall model filled the screen.
It was very easy to get used to talking to Data. He had a way of being precise and informative without any of the weighted words that hinted at judgments. She didn't feel like he thought she took too long to understand or didn't spend enough time looking at something. He explained the layout of the ship in a general way so that she knew where she should and shouldn't be, and why. The PADD that he'd configured for her was directly connected to the special database he'd created. Data had also generated special permissions for her which would allow Lilly to access her specific database from any of the computers on board.
By the time he was done explaining everything, Lilly felt much more confident about the ship and her place on it. The last thing he showed her was a message system that allowed her to contact him without using a comm channel and possibly interrupting something more important.
"That's basically a telephone system, you know. The comms," she told him.
Data looked at her with interest, tipping his head to the side. "You are referring to the immediate nature of the responses, rather than the system supporting that ability?"
"Yes, exactly. It's almost worse, actually, because of the military structure. The expectation is that you'll respond promptly, at whatever hour, and if you don't, you're possibly disabled or dead and someone is going to come check." Lilly hit the button that turned off her PADD and held it up to her chest. "With a telephone, in my time period, you could just leave a voice message if the person didn't answer."
"I believe that while your comparison has merit, you have likely not observed the comm system used by anyone other than members of Starfleet. I suggest gathering more data points," the android said. The language he used was mildly discouraging, but his demeanor was not, and Lilly nodded.
"Well, thank you for everything! I feel much more confident about my place here, and all without an unnecessary guilt trip about whether I'm betraying my entire planet in the process," Lilly said. She got up and walked back over to the ship model.
"Are you referring to Commander Riker?" Data asked, coming over to join her.
"I didn't mean to gossip," Lilly said, flushing. "Forget it."
"The Commander is particularly provoked by his interactions with the entity that brought you here. You may be a proxy for this irritation. I do not believe it is intentional," Data said.
"It's nice of you to want to defend him, but once you've driven a man to create a force field to make you talk to him, it's probably beyond proxy irritation."
Data made a noise of interest and looked at her with fascination. "You will need to tell me about that, at some point," he said. "For now, I need to return to duty."
"Definitely." Lilly moved toward the door and it opened automatically.
"I have added a few lists of well-regarded books from your own time period. Likewise with music. The captain said you seemed like you might like to keep busy," Data said just before she stepped onto the bridge.
8888888888
When Will got back from his extended lunch (a suggestion by the captain), the bridge looked the same as it had when he left, except for the fact that Data wasn't at his station. He mentioned that to Picard and the captain's response seemed evasive when he said that Data was in 'a meeting.'
It wasn't until a half hour later that he understood the evasiveness.
The door to Picard's ready room opened and Data walked out, along with Lilly.
"I can't wait to look at them, honestly," she said to Data with a smile on her face. Then she looked over at where Will was standing, and the smile disappeared. The captain got up from his chair, nodded to Lilly, and walked over to his ready room, pausing in the door as if wanting to ensure she reached the turbolift without incident.
"I can not walk you to your quarters, as I am still on duty," Data said to Lilly.
"It's fine, I know the way," she said. Was it his imagination or had she said that a little louder than necessary? As Lilly walked up toward the turbolift she looked behind Will toward the weapons station and smiled again. "Data?" she called back down to the android.
"Yes?"
"If I sent you a few things that I wanted to know, nothing that would, you know, destroy the universe or anything, would you take a look at them and decide whether you can tell me? Little things that shouldn't matter, like saying 'hello' in Klingon?"
Data looked momentarily taken aback, but he nodded. "I believe I could do that for you, yes."
"Thank you!" she said. She didn't look at Will, but he felt like that entire exchange was directed squarely at him. "See you, Worf!" she said, stepping up to the turbolift.
"Qapla'!" Worf said. He was actually smiling, Will noted. That smile got toothier when Worf looked in his direction, too.
Will went looking for the captain, handing off control of the bridge to Data. He tapped the panel at the door to request entry to the ready room, and heard Picard call for him to 'come.'
"Do you have a minute?" Will said after he walked in. The captain smiled, and the wry expectation on his face told Will Picard probably had been expecting his visit.
"Sit down," Picard said. He looked like he'd only just sat down himself.
Will walked over, threw his leg over the top of the chair, and sat. He took a deep breath, and dived headlong into the issue. "I assume you brought your niece onto the bridge to head off rumors after my argument with her outside of Ten Forward," he said, catching a nod from Picard. "But… Klingon translations?"
Picard leaned back in his chair and let out a breath. "I'll admit, I hadn't expected that."
"Is it a good idea?"
"Is any of this a good idea?" Picard mirrored back. "It seems incredible that she is not the only person from around that time period to have been on the Enterprise, but she has handled it better than her predecessors, wouldn't you say?"
Riker winced. "I think I had wiped my mind of that incident." He had tried to forget that the Enterprise had found a cryogenic shelter ship a few years back with 20th century humans on board. It was not one of his favorite experiences.
"I looked over my personal logs about it last night. She is, of course, less affected by the deaths of her friends and family thanks to the certain knowledge that, somehow, she'll end up back with them."
"I'm less concerned about how she handles that loss than I am of losing you, sir. We got you back from the Borg. I don't want to lose you to forces that could be tipped by something as simple as the amount of information she'll take back with her," Will said, shaking his head decisively. "The way Q talked about time travel was cavalier and chilling."
"I firmly believe that if the act of bringing her here hasn't upset that delicate balance, then small things like factual knowledge about eventual space travel and contact with other races are things she'll be able to conceal." Picard's tone was firm and his jaw was set. Will knew that meant his time for persuasion was over. Now was the time to be gracious in his defeat.
"I look forward to finding out you're right," he said, standing up and smiling with as much charm as he could summon.
"Your faith in me has been a source of strength for many years," Picard said, standing. Will looked over at him, stunned into silence. "Don't look at me like that," the captain reproached him. "I could hardly miss the deeper meaning to all of this."
Later, when he was off duty and in the shower, Will stood and let the water cascade over his face as if it could wash away the guilt he felt when he'd simply nodded his agreement to that version of events. Somewhere deep inside of him, the knowledge that he hadn't acknowledged the real issue waited.
He continued to ignore that feeling.
8888888888
Message to: Data
Message from: LPicard
Message body:
Hello Data,
I hope I'm doing this right (I assume no one uses the 'dear [name]' salutation anymore)! I have just a few questions:
I would dearly like to learn just a few Klingon words or phrases, such as a greeting or even, if not the actual language, the translation of typical phrases they use in situations like a greeting. For example, Worf told me that Klingons do not say 'goodbye,' but rather wish their speaking partner success in battle. So if learning the language is a step too far, teaching me an analogue to 'success!' for their version of 'good morning' would suffice.
Could you possibly make a list of idioms that are not in common use anymore? As much as I'd love to look like I just have an affinity for old phrases, that combined with my appearance might prompt someone to think I want to talk about the life of a particular historical figure. I don't want to give anyone that impression!
This may seem like a strange question, but: Is there a list somewhere that shows where each Starfleet rank is in relation to other titles and ranks from Earth? I'm just curious.
Thank you for everything you've already done, and thanks in advance for whatever you're able to answer in good conscience.
Lilly
8888888888
Message to: LPicard
Message from: Data
Message body:
Lilly,
The use of 'dear' as a salutation is not as archaic as you appear to think. It is true, however, that it is not as commonly used as it was in other centuries. Its use is generally limited to ceremonial correspondence.
As you may have ascertained from speaking with Lieutenant Worf, Klingon language is very situational, and as such, I refer you to the captain. He is well-versed in Klingon.
This message includes a file that lists phrases from the relevant century that would be considered 'out of common use' by this century. As a matter of caution, I recommend that you avoid learning any new phrases that you may inadvertently take back with you.
Your request about ranks and hierarchy led me to conclude that you are asking whether your rank is superior to that of the bridge crew. Similar to the convention that 'a captain is the ruler of his ship' as understood in ancient times, Starfleet holds that a captain and his senior officers hold a unique position during crises onboard a starship. This means that even heads of state and rulers of planets must defer to the captain's orders. Since the first and second officers are presumed to be agents of the captain's authority, their orders would also fall under this deference.
During regular starship operation, there is a kind of ceremonial courtesy which is typically extended. This gives the appearance of yielding to civilian rank and royalty. This is considered under the umbrella of the Prime Directive; authority and autonomy is often important to every society that Starfleet comes into contact with. There have been court cases on Earth that hold that, given the way that the Starfleet operates with such a far reach, Earth should benefit from the same policy as non-Earth cultures.
The outcomes would not apply here, as they fall under [redacted] common law, and extend from, at the earliest, stardate [redacted] and birthdates afterwards. That being said, I find the question itself intriguing. Were the Enterprise to be thrown back to a previous version of Earth, I believe that myself, Captain Picard, and my fellow officers would see that society as deserving of the protection of the Prime Directive. The inverse, then, ought to hold true-which, indeed, is the purpose of your special limited database and the choice not to keep you in medical stasis.
Thus, my initial conclusion was that your rank should be respected except in times of crisis, and I anticipated that you would request a definition of that crisis. However, in thinking about how to define it, I realized that, given that your presence on the ship could be considered a crisis should something happen to prevent your return, it could be argued that such a presence constitutes an ongoing crisis. This would negate the ceremonial courtesy of recognizing your civilian rank as superior.
I must thank you for the opportunity to examine the latter situation for its legal intricacies. If you permit me to, I'd like to speak with Captain Picard about the issues this investigation has brought up. I anticipate that the conversation will be hypothetical, one that would not affect your current permissions.
I regret that this conclusion does not place you any closer to an answer. Perhaps we can discuss it at the reception in my quarters following my art exhibition on Friday? Everyone I have invited knows about your situation.
Data
8888888888
Lilly spent the days between receiving Data's message and his art exhibition listening to music and looking at, replicating, and cataloguing her favorite of the knitting pattern books and magazines she now had access to, thanks to his database.
She felt slightly guilty about it, though. Data had clearly put thought and computation time into the task of limiting her to only the things published by the date she remembered as her last in the 21st century, but he had forgotten a very important bit of context.
Lilly would never have actually had access to all of them, not without an inordinate amount of money.
Sure, they'd been published by the year 2006, but they weren't free at the time! She imagined that not everything that had been available up to that year was available to be included, but she recognized some of the magazines and she definitely knew the music. The replicator did a spectacular job of replicating natural fiber yarn (something Lilly was completely certain was thanks to previous coding and work done by like-minded knitters), and after she'd discovered the extensive catalogue of audiobooks included in her specialized computer, Lilly was quite happy to remain in her room knitting to the voices of long-dead celebrities reading books she'd always wanted to take the time to read.
She was halfway through knitting a lacy cardigan in the exact shade of maroon red that officers in Starfleet wore when her door chimed. It was Beverly.
"Well you've done some decorating!"
Lilly looked around. There was a bookcase in the room already (though it had been used more as a display case than a bookcase), and she'd dragged it over to a stretch of wall near the couch beside the 'windows.' She had plans to ask her 'uncle' if she could have permission to use the replicator used to make furniture and rugs so she could make a few larger objects for the room. As it was, she'd made do with the smaller replicator she had to make some things that made the room feel more 'hers,' such as a few glass bowls full of some of the yarn she'd replicated, and some wallhangings. Because her quarters had no way to block the view of anyone who came to the door, Lilly had avoided displaying things that might be very obvious relics of her own century. She had asked Data whether knitting counted as one of those, and he'd assured her that, while archaic, it wasn't a hobby that was anything more than 'remarkable.'
"Beverly, is that your way of complimenting my room's personality instead of its looks?" Lilly accused, grinning.
Her friend smiled. "No, but that's the sort of thing I'd say," she admitted. "I was more pleased to see that you're settling in by putting some color into the room."
"I've 'accepted my situation?'" Lilly asked her.
"No, not that far along. You're soothing yourself with the familiar, put it like that," Beverly said. Then, she laughed. "That being said, let's go over to Data's quarters and blow away the familiar with whatever he's got in store for us, shall we?" Her voice had deepened into a wry sarcasm that made Lilly feel better than her earlier words about the small things she'd done in her own quarters. Beverly's tone was that of camaraderie, and Lilly couldn't help but respond.
Data's quarters had a small section of easels with various paintings displayed on them. Lilly and Beverly seemed to be the last two of the invited guests, as Data stepped up on a small square platform and said a few words that sounded profoundly rehearsed yet somehow completely sincere.
After having spent nearly four days in her rooms without any more contact with others than a visit from the captain and messages back and forth with Data, Lilly was grateful to be around people but also a little overwhelmed. She looked around the room, feeling as though someone was missing until the door opened and Riker walked in, looking harried. He immediately went over to Data and apologized for his lateness.
"Commander, I would be pleased to repeat my welcome speech if you-"
"No, no, I don't think that will be necessary," Beverly said in a voice of forced congeniality. Data looked between her and Riker and then nodded, seeming to be a bit disappointed.
"If you are certain?"
"The art is the important part, isn't it?" Riker said, grinning. "Tell me about this one?"
He threw an arm around Data's shoulders and led him to a nearby piece. Lilly saw Beverly mouth something to Riker and caught Deanna's look of profound amusement.
"I imagine it can be hard sometimes not to laugh to share the joke when there isn't an abundance of body language to give it away," Lilly said to her after walking over.
"It really is," Deanna admitted. "I actually enjoy the way Data tries so hard to program his body language to hint at appropriate emotional reactions. In a way, it feels like a gift for me, even though I know he does it to act more like a human being. He also does it to fit in, help those around him to feel more comfortable."
"He's honestly one of the most thoughtful people I've ever met," Lilly said.
"You should tell him," Deanna said, sipping from her drink. "He would appreciate hearing that."
"I will," Lilly promised. She looked over her shoulder at where Data and Riker were and caught Riker looking at her, his brow furrowed. Lilly's breath caught. She felt a rush of frustration and another, deeper emotion that felt almost like jealousy. What made her so awful to this man that he seemed to sour at the very sight of her? It seemed like no matter how he acted around her, it was impossible to exist near him and not want him to smile at her the way he did toward the others. It didn't mean anything more than the typical desire of any human being to be interesting and entertaining rather than repugnant, she told herself. That's all it was.
When Lilly looked back at Deanna, she saw that her eyes were full of surprise and concern.
"That was a pretty strong reaction," Deanna said in a quiet voice.
"What reaction?" Lilly said, taking a deep breath and holding her arms rigid against the desire to cross them in front of her. Deanna made a face that spoke volumes, and Lilly sighed. "All right, there was a reaction. An internal one. I thought I did a good job not showing anything, speaking of body language!"
"You did. But we both know that there was a lot more going on underneath."
"Oh, no big deal," Lilly said, wincing at the phrasing. It was on Data's list of archaic sayings. "Just the ship's second in command hating my guts. Shit, that was on the list too."
"List?" Deanna said, the corner of her mouth turning up.
"Data made me a list of things no one says anymore. I'm full of them, unfortunately." Lilly laughed and shook her head. "'Chock' full of them."
Beverly walked over after speaking to the captain, and as she leaned up against the place the wall jutted out to form the boundary of the room, Deanna spoke again.
"You did a good job of deflection, but I am not easily deterred."
"Ooh, what are we avoiding?" Beverly asked, her eyebrows going up.
"Nothing that we're going to talk about in the room we're in with the company we're surrounded by," Lilly said under her breath with forced gaiety.
"Fair enough," Beverly said. "The second round of vaccines you need should be ready tomorrow. There's a whole story about why they developed vaccines that weren't able to be detected-some of it was because of the threat of reverse engineering the diseases themselves, not that I should be telling you that!" She seemed to realize what she was saying halfway through, possibly because Riker had approached their group, Lilly thought.
Lilly smiled at Beverly before turning away, meaning to leave and mingle elsewhere. Before she got the chance, though, Deanna threaded her arm through Lilly's and kept her in place. When glaring at her didn't work, Lilly tugged as surreptitiously as she could without seeming to be rude. That had no effect, so Lilly stood and listened to the three Starfleet officers talk about Data's art for a few minutes.
Her body was turned to the side after trying to get free of Deanna's inexorable grip, and Lilly felt like adjusting her stance would be letting her friend win, so she pulled her hair free and let it fall around her face instead of in the low ponytail with its decorative clip. Around and between this curtain of hair, she watched Riker, Deanna, and Beverly chat. Riker's face was very expressive; he listened attentively, spoke with animation, and throughout the conversation seemed to give himself over to an amusement that transformed his face in an attractive way.
She felt his pull, and it was that which prompted her to draw attention to herself in a last effort to get free.
"I'm sorry to interrupt but I do actually need my arm back, if you don't mind. It's been days since I've had a chance to talk to my uncle in person," Lilly said.
"Oh, of course," Deanna said as if she'd never meant to trap her in the first place.
"Maybe next time you could send him a message instead of feeling the need to leave your quarters," Riker said in a conversational tone.
Lilly had already turned her back to the group, but she spun around. "It's not like I have a contagious disease! I chose not to go anywhere, I don't have a restriction on my movements."
"Don't you?" Riker said in a quiet, almost menacing voice.
"Solitude isn't medically recommended even if she did have a restriction!" Beverly's voice was firm, and she was looking at Riker.
"Recommended or not, I'm sure you'd agree she's safer in her quarters. It's not as if she can't have visitors."
All amusement and light had gone from his face now, and replacing them was a severity and hardness that made her feel awful. Lilly hated how disappointed she felt in that moment, because deep down she knew it wasn't just because he was threatening to confine her to her quarters. This man would probably never smile at her in that brilliant way that made her insides twist, the way she'd seen him smile at Deanna or the captain.
"'She' is right here. And you don't have the authority to force me to stay in my rooms," Lilly said, crossing her arms.
"Excuse me?" Riker drew himself up straight, tipping his head just slightly to the side to stare at her. Some of the other guests were drifting over to them, and
all their conversations seemed to have cut off as if someone had hit a mute button.
Lilly wondered whether anyone else in the room would understand that reference.
"I'm in charge of personnel and guests on the ship. I can assure you, I have the authority," Riker continued.
"Maybe in a crisis, you would. Right now, though, I outrank you." Lilly was shaking internally, her eyes locked onto his face. She saw him react to her inflammatory statement, recognized fury in his expression, and locked down her own inexplicable disappointment. He would never smile at her now.
Riker took a step toward her. "You don't even have a rank! Pretending to be related to a captain does not confer any authority-"
"I hold a civilian rank," Lilly interrupted.
Riker advanced again, glaring down at her, a foot away. "You shouldn't even know about that!"
"I don't know what you're talking about. I am a princess. You could lose your rank, but mine is by birthright."
"And how long have you even known about that? Three weeks?" he snapped.
"Commander?" It was Picard, his voice mild and curious. He walked over to stand beside, almost between them.
"Sir?" Riker turned his head to look at the captain.
"I received an interesting message from Data a few days ago. It was about this very situation." Picard's body language was relaxed, and his tone was that of a storyteller. "Interestingly, because Lilly is from Earth, the rules about this are more restrictive than if she'd been from any other planet. It was only a few dozen years ago that certain Earth leaders pointed out that their authority isn't treated the same as other races'. We generally do not, as a rule, consider that the Prime Directive is in play with our own people." He smiled at both of them, and Lilly marveled at the way he'd used an anecdote like that to diffuse their anger.
"The Prime Directive?" Riker sounded skeptical. Then, he held up a hand, clearly thinking about it. "We treat foreign leaders with deference in order to preserve their social autonomy."
"Exactly," Picard said.
"I think she's clearly smart enough to know we're not undermining her authority on 21st century Earth, sir," Riker said. "Authority she hasn't held for very long, if at all."
"No matter what my life is like in my own place and time, dismissing me and treating me like a nuisance hurts the same way," Lilly said, raising her voice. "Princess or ditch digger alike!"
"Perhaps it is as simple as saying 'Please,'" Worf said from across the room.
Lilly looked over at him along with everyone else. She made eye contact with him and smiled ever so slightly.
"Forgive me for interrupting, sir," Worf said to Picard.
"No offence taken, Lieutenant. Go on?"
Worf clasped his hands together behind his back. "The disagreement is over a perceived slight. Klingons would battle each other to establish a hierarchy. However, in your language, the use of authority can be… softened. With politeness."
Picard turned back to Riker, but said nothing.
"I can do that," Riker said, unexpectedly. He took a half step in her direction. "I'd like to ask that, in the interests of protecting our interests in your future, you consider my request that you please keep to your quarters? Within reason, of course."
There was no insolence in his delivery. There was no arrogance, either. Lilly was surprised, but they were in a room full of his peers and friends. A thought occurred to her as she looked up at him, and though she tried to suppress it, her lips twisted in amused reaction to that thought.
Riker raised his eyebrows at her, but didn't seem upset. Yet.
"I'm so sorry, I had a thought of how I could respond and I-" she shook her head. "It occurred to me to say, simply, 'No, thank you,'" she admitted, giving in to the urge to grin impudently at him. There were some chuckles from the guests around her, and she recognized Picard's laugh. For his part, Riker didn't smile, but his expression gentled a bit, becoming less commanding. "I'm amenable, but would a gathering like this be considered 'within reason?' And, can I visit Guinan?"
"Yes to both," Riker said after shooting a look over at the captain, who nodded.
"Then, I accept," Lilly said, dipping her head a tiny bit in acknowledgement of him.
Because she was looking right at him when she responded, Lilly caught the split second of shock on Riker's face before he schooled it away. Around her, there was an odd, uncomfortable silence.
"I'm- Good. Thank you," Riker said. He walked away from her toward Data's art, and Deanna followed after him.
Lilly wondered what had happened to cause such an odd reaction, but the low hum of conversation had started up again, and she'd had enough of being the center of uncomfortable attention.
"I'm afraid you'll have to wait over a week for that visit with Guinan," Picard said. "Myself, Guinan, and another person you haven't met are all due for some shore leave in two days."
"Oh, like a vacation? That's nice," Lilly said, meaning it. Picard spoke to her about the archaeological opportunities he was looking forward to while on the planet he was scheduled to visit. Their conversation ended and he moved on to talk to a man with a strange contraption that covered his eyes. Lilly sipped her drink and watched everyone in their small groups of conversation before she walked back over to look at Data's paintings.
"I hope you do not mind that I forwarded our conversation to the captain without telling you about it first," Data said, coming up to stand beside her.
"Oh, it didn't occur to me at the time, but I think I probably expected you to do that, it's not a problem," Lilly assured him.
"Is this painting a close-up of this section on this canvas?" Beverly asked, coming over.
They spoke about the painting, and something Data said during that conversation reminded Lilly of something she'd meant to ask him.
"Data, is it possible for you to make a mistake?" she asked, once Beverly seemed to be finished speaking to him about his art. Lilly had tried to ask in a relatively quiet tone, but she could see that some of the officers who were nearby looked over on hearing her question.
"That depends on what kind of mistake you are referring to. If it is a computation, unless the underlying data is faulty, the answer is no, I can not make a mistake. If you are referring to what might be described as a 'judgment call,' however, it is possible that another person in my place could make a different decision. In that way, they may disagree with my choice as they would have chosen differently, and characterize it as a 'mistake.'"
"That makes sense," Lilly said.
"May I ask if you were speaking generally or specifically?"
"Specifically," Lilly told Data. "When I first started looking into the database you made for me, I decided to listen to some of the most recent music in there. I discovered an album from a musical that I completely fell in love with, so I looked up the details." Deanna and Riker were nearby and started walking over, but Lilly focused on Data, hoping that she wouldn't upset the truce she'd just established with the first officer. "The date on the album was after I left," she said, lowering her voice a little.
"Ah," Data said, clearly recognizing her issue. "That was a judgment call on my part. Your journals are very detailed, and in constructing your database, I chose to include some things mentioned in those journals. I saw no reason to restrict things created so close to the date you provided, as they are well known favorites of your older self."
In a way it made sense, she supposed. What was ten or so years of 'extra' access, when the span of time between now and the day she left was in the hundreds?
Something still nagged at her, though.
"Thank you, that makes sense, I guess," Lilly said. "You said the things you included were things I'd written about loving?"
"Yes."
"I'm sure you can pretend that you only just heard them, once you get back?" Beverly said placatingly.
"Well yes, I could, it's just that- well, some of them are things I can't imagine I'd like! It's silly, don't worry about it, never mind," Lilly said, feeling like she was drawing attention to herself yet again.
"What kind of things?" Deanna asked.
"You can probably sense that I'm confused," Lilly said ruefully.
"I can, but I would never expect a friend or coworker to apologize for feeling emotions around me," Deanna told her. "If you want to explain why you are confused, you can, but you aren't obligated to."
"Are you saying that, despite what is recorded in your journals, you find some of the selections I made distasteful?" Data asked, seeming to be very curious about her answer.
"Yes," Lilly said. "It's just that I don't like jazz, and there's… well, there's a lot of it!"
Deanna, Beverly, and Riker both looked very surprised at this. Surprised enough that Lilly felt like she needed to soften her stance, just a little.
"Don't get me wrong, it's not like I think there isn't talent in it, and I'm impressed by the musicality of the great performers, and everything, but it's definitely not my thing."
"You don't like jazz," Riker's comment was more of a statement than a question, and when she looked over at him, he looked off balance.
"Not really, no. I always thought maybe if I got the right introduction to it-" she stopped talking. His reaction was decidedly peculiar, and it was disconcerting enough that she wanted to change the subject. "It doesn't matter. I guess I will change my mind at some point! The musical I found and looked up had a lot of jazzy influences to it and I adore it, so what do I know?"
Riker had backed away a bit, and Deanna looked over at her in concern. Beverly caught Lilly's attention, though, by asking a question.
"What is it called? I'll have to check it out," she said.
"Hadestown," Lilly told her. "I'm sure it's been lost to history except for the dutiful compilation of recorded works, but I'll admit I'm grateful Data cheated a bit on the dates."
After that, Beverly talked about something else, and Lilly didn't really dwell on prompting yet another strange reaction in Riker. The gathering broke up and Lilly made it back to her quarters by herself, relieved but worn out by the emotional ups and downs of the evening.
She decided to listen to Hadestown to fall asleep, and as she lay in her bed looking up at the starfield outside the window, she realized something about the mythology the musical was based on.
Alongside the main love story of Eurydice and Orpheus, two other characters in the musical were Hades and Persephone- a powerful god who saw a woman, fell for her, and kidnapped her, taking her to his own domain.
He even let her return to her own world to live her life, after a period of time.
