Chapter 16

"I told you, I don't want to be married, and I won't do as you say anymore!"

Wesley Crusher slowed down just as a large pink suitcase slammed against the wall of the corridor, and tumbled to the floor spilling some of its contents. He could see it had been thrown quickly from the doorway of one of the guest rooms. Wesley took a step back as a beautiful young woman burst from the room. He recognized her as Ciapathian. He quickly activated the universal translator on a nearby wall computer station.

He hadn't expected any teenagers-at least she seemed like a teenager-to accompany the Ciapathian political contingent. Apparently not noticing Wes, the girl turned accusingly back to address someone inside the room, and this time, her words were understandable. "Father, I've had enough of this. I won't marry him and that is all."

A tall Ciapathian stepped from the room, and Wesley immediately froze, recognizing the man as Premier Fon, the Ciapathian leader. "You will not disappoint me, Hatha. Our family is the model for all of Ciapathia, and you will fulfill your role."

"I will not!"

Wesley, despite the situation, and her belligerent attitude, was immediately captivated by the young woman. Still, he hesitated to intervene in the family argument.

Fon pointed sternly at his daughter. "Del has twenty-two devoted children; twenty-two and I have just one ungrateful child-you! And to think the lengths your mother and I took to ensure you were born."

"Please spare me the details, Father," she said, bending low to begin picking up her belongings. It was then that she met Wesley's gaze and a small smile played over her face. Fon followed her gaze to find Wesley standing there and he didn't look at all happy. In fact Fon's expression was verging on hostile.

"Is everything alright here?" a powerful voice sounded from behind Wesley. He turned in surprise to find Captain Picard standing there, not having heard the man's approach. Picard put a brief hand on Wesley's shoulder before walking past him. "I heard shouting, Premier Fon. I do hope that your accommodations are agreeable enough."

Fon straightened. "Of course, Captain Picard. There is no trouble, I can assure you. My daughter Hatha was merely picking up her belongings. Teenagers are so clumsy at times."

"Yes, I'm sure," Picard said tersely, and shot Wesley a withering glance.

"Come Hatha," Fon said beckoning his daughter back into their guest quarters.

Hatha and Wesley stared at each other, but she followed her father, apparently giving up the fight for the moment.

Wesley watched as the two Ciapathians disappeared into the room and the door hissed shut. Presently he could feel the captain staring at him.

"A very pretty young woman," Picard commented, still giving Wesley a sideways glance.

"Huh? Yeah...I mean, yes sir."

Picard lifted his chin and fixed Wesley with his piercing gaze. "Mr. Crusher...I don't suppose that you are aware of the importance of this negotiation between the Federation and the Ciapathian government."

"Um...I guess so, sir."

"You guess so?" Wesley's frightened expression caused Picard to soften his tone, but only slightly. "Mr. Crusher, you are a civilian, but as captain of this vessel, I have to caution you...do not use my negotiation as an opportunity to find your first girlfriend." Wesley opened his mouth to answer, but Picard turned on his heel abruptly and marched back down the hallway.

Wesley swallowed. "Yes sir," he murmured, as the captain disappeared around the corner.

Wesley had been unable to sleep nearly all night long, but now as it was time to get up for school he now decided he would prefer to remain in bed. He pulled the covers up to his chin and rolled onto his back smiling up at the ceiling. He couldn't stop thinking of the beautiful girl he had seen last night while wandering the corridors. Hatha had been her name, and he wished he could see her again soon.

But somehow, even in his haze, he was acutely aware that reading into her friendly glances, or ignoring the silent but threatening stares of her father- who just happened to be the leader of the Ciapathian people-was not a good idea. For one thing, he had happened upon a conversation between Hatha and her father in which Hatha had been talking about not wanting to get married to some guy; a guy who her father on the other hand, really wanted her to marry. What kind of society didn't allow people to choose who they wanted to marry, or who not to for that matter? Being who he was and where and when he was from, Wesley couldn't fathom it.

In addition, he had a feeling that Hatha was much older than him-she looked almost eighteen! Granted, she was from a different species, and who knew what the rules were when you looked at it in that way? But to make matters even more complicated, Captain Picard had only his negotiations with Hatha' s politician father in mind when he had pretty much warned Wesley not to even entertain the thought of making a move. Surely the captain had some idea of how fragile poor Wesley's ego was. It wouldn't be hard to discourage Wesley from pursuing Hatha romantically; not that Wesley was at all sure how to make a move if given the opportunity.

He sincerely doubted Captain Picard would ever be the one to give him any pointers either. He silently resolved to be more like Captain Picard when it came to everything, including women. He highly doubted that Picard had ever been stymied by a woman, and even if he had, he probably never let her know it. Be more like the captain, he urged himself, trying to keep thoughts of his new infatuation at bay.

It was almost time for school. Wesley yawned, and finally rolled out of bed, stepping out of his bedroom. His mother was already on her way out the door, and was pulling on her blue lab coat. She turned to look back at him.

"Good morning. You were up for a long time last night...I saw your light was on late."

"Yeah," he mumbled as he replicated himself a bowl of cereal and a spoon to eat it with. "I had a lot of reading to do."

"Difficult homework?" Beverly nodded toward the data pad in his hand.

He shrugged and sat down at the table. The truth was, homework was never difficult for him. "Not really... just distracted, that's all," he replied. Uh oh. He instantly regretted uttering those words. Now his mother would not let up until she discovered what was bothering him.

"Distracted?" she said as if on cue, and placed her empty coffee cup down on the table. "By what?"

He shrugged again and shoved a spoonful of cereal in his mouth, carefully averting his gaze from hers.

Of course he's met a girl. Beverly kept her expression innocent, and certainly did not even come close to rolling her eyes at her son. But why did teenagers always think they were the first to have experienced everything? Beverly let out a short laugh before slinging her med kit over her shoulder. "Okay," she said easily. "Have a great day... I'll see you tonight at dinner then."

Wesley's eyes widened as he swallowed too much milk and it went down the wrong pipe. After coughing uncontrollably for a few seconds, he choked out the words "...at dinner?"

She turned back slowly to look at him with a curious yet amused expression. "Yes...remember I told you there will be a dinner tonight for the Ciapathian dignitaries and we're both going."

"I'm invited?"

"Well as a senior officer I have to go. I'd like you to attend with me...but if you have other plans..." She raised an eyebrow.

Wesley put down his spoon and tried to appear dignified. He knew she was on to him, but he was still going to try and be discreet. Think like Picard.

If he went to the dinner he would have the problem of trying to avoid both the stares of Hatha, (assuming she hadn't forgotten about him by then) the captain, and now his mother. "Are you sure the captain wouldn't mind me going?" He remembered the stern look on the captain's face the night before.

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind. Besides, you're with me. If he has a problem with you being there, I'll leave too. Believe me...that he would mind."

Wesley looked down at the table and tapped the handle of his spoon against the edge of the bowl before remembering how much that annoyed his mother.

Beverly walked back to the table and leaned on the back of a chair with her elbows. "Wes...did something happen with Captain Picard recently that I should know about?"

He looked up at her. "Not really."

She raised her eyebrows, but he remained stoic.

"Not really? What is that supposed to mean?" she prompted.

Wes shrugged and got up from the table. "If it's alright, Mom, I really don't want to talk about it. At least not right now."

She shrugged resignedly. "Okay..." Beverly watched her son walk out of the room, before she sighed and turned to leave their quarters.

When Beverly arrived in main sickbay for duty that morning, she could immediately tell that something was wrong. Most of her staff were milling around as if unsure of what exactly they were expected to do, with the exception of Doctor Selar who stood with her hands draped behind her back. The Vulcan physician's posture mirrored that of the figure who stood facing away from her, examining a wall monitor in silence. "I regret to inform you sir that this area is not authorized for visitors," said Selar. "Once again, please step away from the monitor or I will have to contact security."

Beverly approached Selar and gave her colleague a questioning glance.

"This person has been...exploring main sick bay for the last 15 minutes, Doctor," Selar informed her. "Although his jacket is affixed with a translation device, he has not spoken, and he has seemingly disregarded my attempts to converse with him," Selar added tersely.

Beverly walked closer to the very still individual. "Excuse me...I am Doctor Beverly Crusher and I happen to be the Chief Medical Officer on board this ship. And who might you be?"

She circled around in front if the person who she noted must be one of the Ciapathians. He appeared to have masculine characteristics, but as a doctor she was not one to presume anything. With a very slight build, his hair was jet black and slicked back, his skin was a bright pink, and he had a ridge of bone that started at the top of his forehead and disappeared underneath a very odd looking visual prothsesis. It was ruby red in color and unlike Geordi's Visor, covered the entire upper half of the alien's face.

The reply was a low guttural sound unfamiliar to her, but the translation was: "Forgive me, doctor. I am quite...unused to speaking with humans. My name is Doctor Petral."

Beverly forced a tense smile. Yes, definitely one of the Ciapathians. "Good to meet you, doctor. Now how may I help you?"

Doctor Petral turned slowly to face her and she had the distinct impression that she was being studied. "You are a female of the human species, are you not?"

Surprised at such a question, Beverly raised a protective hand instinctively to her chest. "I am..." She cleared her throat and glanced at Selar.

"And you also have males on board? I believe I have already met several of those."

"Yes," said Beverly simply. "But we do not refer to other human beings as 'those'," she said. "We refer to them as other people," she said, very aware of the edge in her own voice. This is why I'm not a diplomat.

Seeming uninterested in human social requirements, Petral turned his visor to focus on Selar. "I did not know that humans worked so closely with other species. How fascinating."

"I agree," said Selar. "It is quite fascinating."

"It explains the remarkable progress of the human species," continued Petral coolly. "Collaboration can sometimes bring many technological, social, and scientific advantages, not achievable by a more isolated species. Diversification can also have the effect of eliminating many primitive traits."

"Primitive?" Beverly's eyebrows shot up.

"But your Vulcan species has a reputation for scientific advancement our people are eager to examine more closely," Petral said to Selar, continuing to ignore Beverly.

Selar straightened and lifted an eyebrow. "As you may be aware, Doctor, the Vulcan people now readily share our advancements with the other founding members of the Federation-most readily with humans, in fact."

Selar looked at her, but Beverly merely tilted her head in response, unsure if she wanted to inject herself back into this odd conversation.

Petral pointedly turned his attention back to Crusher, finding his visor on her face. Then he seemed to scan up and down her body, and she felt a sudden and specific kind of revulsion. "And you are of child-bearing age? Or are you still...immature?"

Beverly frowned, and then deciding to take it in stride, crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a thin smile. "Doctor Petral, in our culture, these kind of questions are...inappropriate. If you would like, however, I can offer you some scientific materials to read which will catch you up on human sexual function...as it seems to be an interest of yours."

"It is. And if sexual function is also of interest to you, perhaps we can have a discussion about this subject."

"Or perhaps not," said Beverly firmly.

Petral smiled oddly. "As an alternative, would you be willing to demonstrate?"

She shook her head, not believing what he was possibly asking. "Demonstrate..."

"Human sexual function. As I have conveyed I find the subject most stimulating."

Beverly now felt her face grow hot with embarrassed anger. She opened her mouth to tell him to go to hell, but instead said: "Doctor Petral, you will have to satisfy your need for stimulation by accessing the ship's library."

"These questions bother you? But you are a scientist..."

Beverly glanced at Selar. "Doctor Selar...I need your assistance in recovery room one," she said coolly. Selar nodded, and Beverly turned briefly to Petral. "You will have to excuse us, Doctor Petral, but we're quite busy this morning. Please request permission from Captain Picard the next time you plan to visit sick bay."