Chapter 4
Following their meal, Beverly and Jean-Luc opted for a short stroll through the downtown area where they could do some window shopping and people watching. Being as they were both out of uniform and officially "off-duty," Jean-Luc found himself completely at ease with relaxing in public. That their shared and somewhat-affectionate breakfast had gone uncommented on, at least to his face, Picard felt that he could afford himself - and Beverly- the opportunity to exist amongst the crowd.
The downtown area was clearly modeled after the ancient Earth towns, complete with brick walkways and brownstone buildings that were adorned with lights that Jean-Luc supposed would be a warm amber after the sun went down for the night. He made a note to bring Beverly back here later on their trip as he hoped to see the glow of her hair in that luminescence. A few blocks down the main road, a group of individuals - a mix of humans, a Vulcan, and an Andorian - were playing a gentle medley that blended well into the background of the noise of the people exploring the town.
The town was quite certainly a tourist attraction, but both Picard and Crusher's love for ancient Earth fiction had the two officers in appreciation for the buildings around them, more real than they ever could be, even in the best of Dixon Hill programs.
Walking hand-in-hand once again, Beverly and Jean-Luc sifted through the light crowd of individuals engaging in similar activities. Not a word passed between the couple as they found their way to a bench in the area's approximation of a townsquare, minus of course, the automobiles that would have once traversed the streets of such an area. Just as the officers were sitting back, a disheveled young local of Silvestria Prime came running up to them.
Slightly out of breath the young individual asked, "Captain Picard?"
Jean-Luc nodded hesitantly in confirmation, to which the gentleman responded, "Sir, I've just been informed that the Enterprise made an unexpected and unauthorized departure at Warp 8 out of spacedock. All attempts at contact have gone unanswered. When my superior learned you were here, he wanted me to tell you right away!"
Gaining his composure, Jean-Luc did his best to ignore Beverly's concerned look, and clearing his throat, he tried to calm the messenger, "...Uh, yes. I appreciate your expedient relaying. I suppose we'll need to contact a nearby starship if we ever hope to catch up to them."
The harried man nodded frantically and responded, "Of course Captain. I will do that now. As soon as we find a suitable vessel, I'll contact you immediately."
With that, the messenger ran back in the direction he had arrived in, leaving behind two very disappointed officers. Finally looking over to Beverly, Jean-Luc sighed and gave his lover an apologetic look as he took her hand.
Before he could speak, Beverly said with a small smirk, "Jean-Luc, it's okay. We really should find out what Will's done to the ship while we were gone."
Giving her an amused smirk of his own, Picard shook his head. "Never should have left Number One by himself. There's no knowing what kind of trouble he gets himself into."
His expression quickly turned back to the creased apology it had shaped earlier. "I was hoping to spend more than just one day with you though, Beverly, and now that we've finally made some progress it seems that duty is interfering once again. I cannot be more sorry for that, this trip was supposed to leave that behind for the moment."
Turning her body to face him completely, Beverly took Picard's face into her hands. Stroking his cheeks with her thumbs, she whispered, "Jean-Luc. We'll still have time when we return to the ship. We're both in Starfleet, remember Captain? Fun is constantly interrupted by one anomaly or another. I'm sure once it's all solved, I can convince you to spend a few days in your quarters with me."
Lifting his own hands to cover Beverly's on his face, Jean-Luc's smile reached his eyes as he moved to kiss her. Releasing with a small pop, Picard whispered back, "I'm sure that won't take much convincing Doctor. Not much at all."
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
The young man returned within minutes with the news that the USS Wollstonecraft was around 25 minutes away at maximum warp. Once it arrived, Beverly and Jean-Luc boarded, back in their standard uniforms, the mission at hand filling their focus, and the shoreleave they had partaken in pushed aside for the moment. After a quick discussion with the captain of the starship, Picard learned that the Enterprise had come to a sudden halt after traveling nearly across the sector and thensome. The cause of its abrupt departure and subsequent stop remained unknown as communications were still down.
Back on the Enterprise herself, Riker, Troi, Data, La Forge, and Worf were still struggling with Data's inadvertent creation of a sentient Kilgore Trout. The man seemed to be insane, and his sputterings had led another holographic character to approach the group.
The young holographic man acknowledged Trout's antics with a mere shrug as he moved over to where Data and Geordi were standing, his interest in Data quite clear on his face.
"Hey man, watch ya got going on with that tan?" the man asked.
"Pardon? I am uncertain what you are referring to. If you are referencing my skin, it is because I am French," Data said.
"French hmmm… well I guess if you say so. 'French' is such a granfalloon, don't ya think?"
"A what?" Geordi exclaimed with a raised brow as he looked back and forth between Data and the holographic character.
"A granfalloon. You know, a false karass. Like me being from Indiana doesn't mean that I belong with all people from Indiana just 'cause were all from there. Bokonon teaches us this."
"Indiana?" Geordi questioned again. "Isn't that one of the old states from Earth's history?"
"It is indeed, Geordi," Data responded with a nod. "I believe I recognize this person. He appears to be the character Jonah from Vonnegut's anti-establishment novel, Cat's Cradle. 'Bokonon' was a fictional religion Vonnegut constructed. A 'karass' is defined by the rules of Bokonon as a group of interconnected people that would otherwise share no similarities. One could even describe the crew of the Enterprise as such. It is quite intriguing. "
"Right on man!" Jonah said, grinning at the conversation. "Now, if you want to show connection with Bokonon, you've got to complete the boko-maru with someone in your karass."
Data cocked his head at that statement, clearly running through his database on Kurt Vonnegut's writings.
Suddenly, his head popped back into its normal position as he shouted, "Commander Riker!"
"Yes, Data?" William Riker replied from the area where Kilgore Trout continued to mutter and draw lines in the sand.
"Commander, I believe that if we follow this man's advice from Bokonon, that we may be able to stop Kilgore Trout's influence on the Enterprise."
"What exactly is he asking you to do, Data?"
"Sir, he is requesting that two members of the Enterprise's karass complete the boko-maru. It is said to restore the souls of the individuals. If Geordi and I complete this, Trout will see that I am not the monstrosity he believes me to be. I believe there is an anomaly in the framework of the holodeck program that has connected Vonnegut's storylines and characters to the ship itself. The trajectory of my program suggests that we have to acknowledge the connections between ourselves before we can regain control of the ship, according to this anomaly."
After Data finished his long spiel, Riker gave a long sigh and lifted his palm to his face in exasperation.
After another sigh, he lowered his hand and replied, "Do what you have to, Data. This has gone on long enough."
"Certainly, Commander," Data said, turning to Geordi while removing his socks and shoes.
"Uhh, Data, what are you doing?" Geordi asked.
"We are going to complete the boko-maru, Geordi. It only requires that we connect our bare soles to restore our souls as a karass."
"Oh, boy," Geordi sighed. "Do you think it'll work?"
"I am quite hopeful," Data said, taking a seat on the ground.
He gestured for Geordi to do the same. Once Geordi was seated, sans his socks and shoes, the two officers lifted their feet and connected them.
"Good, good!" cried Trout. "Now you know the true power of Bokonon! Isn't that right Jonah?"
"Yes, Mr. Trout, it is," Jonah replied with a smug expression. "Come on now Kilgore, we have to get to Midland City. Old Hoover is throwing some sort of party there."
"Hmm, I believe you're correct, young man. Let's get a head start. I'm certain there's some sort of truck we can hitch along the way."
With little more than an acknowledgement of the two Starfleet officers currently rubbing their feet together on the ground, the two holographic characters walked off into the distance, disappearing into the realms of the holodeck.
Reflexively, Riker tapped his combadge, and was more than pleased to hear its positive jumble of sounds as he called out, "Riker to bridge!"
"Bridge, sir. Are you alright in there? We just came to a stop and the Wollstonecraft is hailing us. Captain Picard and Doctor Crusher are aboard."
Looking over at Data and Geordi who had now decided to stand up from their previous, ridiculous situation, Riker said, "We are now, Ensign. Tell Captain Picard I'll be on the bridge when he and Doctor Crusher beam over."
"Yes sir," the young ensign replied, cutting the connection.
"Data," Riker started, "I think you're going to need to refrain from any more holodeck programs for the foreseeable future."
"I concur, Commander," Data said. "I apologize for the incident that occurred due to my program."
"Data," Counselor Troi said, approaching the men, "Everything turned out alright in the end. I'm sure Captain Picard will understand."
"Thank you, Counselor," Data responded.
With that, the group of senior officers exited the holodeck, with Troi making her way to greet Beverly as she beamed over. Geordi headed to Engineering, his experience in the holodeck ingrained in his mind, though not unpleasantly, for the most part. Worf, Data, and Riker all entered the turbolift to the bridge, hoping to restore order as quickly as possible.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Following a series of concerning and certainly unusual reports about the holodeck, Picard was more than ready to call it quits for the evening as he set his datapad back on the clear surface of his ready room desk. He was uncertain that he would ever be able to purge the idea of two of his officers rubbing their feet together in order to save the ship, though he was definitely sure that he wished to return to Beverly for the remainder of the day.
With that thought, the chime to his office rang, and at his cue to enter, the Doctor in question walked in. She was definitely a sight for sore eyes, and Picard expressed his relief at finally reveling in one another's company again after such an unexpected day.
At her concurrence, Picard gave a short sigh as he moved towards Beverly in his ready room.
"What's wrong Jean-Luc?" Beverly asked, cocking her head while her brow furrowed with concern. "They managed to get that damn program shut down and no one ended up being any worse for the wear."
Jean-Luc stepped the final distance between them as he rounded his desk and took Beverly's hands into his own.
Lifting their joined hands to his chest, Picard said with in a hushed tone, "This may be a bit silly, Beverly, but I was really hoping to take you downtown again this evening to admire you in the lights of the street, but with all the chaos, I never got the chance."
Beverly gave him an amused smile before kissing him softly on the mouth, "We can still save part of the evening you know."
Picard hummed in response and leaned in for another kiss, which Beverly was more than happy to grant him.
"What did you have in mind, Doctor?" Picard asked suggestively.
"You'll just have to wait and see my dear captain," she said, gently extracting herself from his embrace. "You'll just have to wait and see."
Crusher turned and exited the ready room, leaving Picard with a larger smile than he would ever admit to.
"Indeed," Picard said to no one in particular as he quickly followed the path Beverly had taken, with the hopes that he would never not join her again.