Chapter 50

Sleep that night was elusive to the point where he considered just getting out of bed. Nurse Ogawa's words reverberated in his head..." she will be right next door, in case you need anything." What he needed, was now completely and painfully clear. When he finally closed his eyes, he could only see images of her. He tossed and turned feverishly until he heard a knock at the door. Sitting up in bed, he called out, "come."

She walked into the room, wearing a silk robe, which hugged the curves of her body. It didn't occur to him that it was strange she had brought such alluring sleepwear on an away team mission. Not bothering to close the door behind her, she walked towards him. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, but when she reached him, she put her hands on his shoulders, holding him back, pushing him against the pillows.

"Shh," she whispered. "I can see that you're in need of something."

"Beverly-"

She put her fingers to his lips. "Shh...don't worry, I have everything you need." She leaned down to kiss him as he opened her robe.

"Beverly, I need you!"

The room was dark when she opened the door to his room. He continued to call her name, and the heart rate monitor was behaving as though he was involved in rigorous activity. "Captain? Jean-Luc? It's me, Beverly...what do you need?"

She approached quickly, seeing that he was sitting up in bed, but his rapid breathing was not normal. He let out a cry and then grew still.

Beverly leaned over him, now convinced that he was dreaming. Suddenly he reached up to her and drew her into a tight embrace, pulling her cheek to his. "I love you," he gasped. He wasn't letting her go, so she relaxed a bit until his grip loosened and she was able to pull away. He lay back down and she could see that his eyes were closed.

She stood there in the dark, heart beating fast, unsure of what to do next. I love you. Dream or not, she would never be able to forget those words. Her head was pounding from the brandy she had stupidly drunk a few hours earlier. Slowly, she backed away, hopeful that he would remain asleep. But she could see him moving again and he rose up on his elbows, blinking at her in confusion.

"What are you doing here?" He sat up in bed, pulling the tousled sheets around him. He looked around him and down at the bed and even in the dark she could sense his deep embarrassment and shame at the realization of what had happened.

"You...I was worried about you, but it's okay, Jean-Luc, you were only dreaming." Her words came out very fast, and her whole body was trembling. "You're fine."

He put his hands over his lap self-consciously. "Please leave," he said hoarsely.

Not sure what to do, she decided not to argue and hurried from the room.

The next morning...

"Are you quite certain, Mr. Data?"

Picard glanced over at Riker, who was uncharacteristically pale and withdrawn.

From the tiny viewscreen, Data's perpetually curious yet deadpan expression took on a note of confidence. Data's talent for mimicry had been apparent from their first encounter on board the Enterprise, but now Picard had begun to see the android adopting his facial expressions and mannerisms in one on one conversations, and it was more than a little disconcerting.

For the moment he seemed to mirror Picard's serious expression. "I am, Captain. At your direction, I located Admiral Forrester's adult offspring. Amanda Forrester refused to speak with me, however, Robert Forrester was willing to talk with me at length. With his permission, I recorded our conversation and have uploaded it to your personal files."

"Thank you, Data. You have done well."

Will Riker was hungover. Only synthehol for me from now on. He watched through bloodshot eyes as Picard easily conversed with their colleague after what had likely been a solid night's sleep. Riker was envious. But then he recalled what had happened the previous day and considered it was possible the captain hadn't slept at all. By all appearances, he seemed fine. However, the crew now suspected that Picard had been abducted, drugged, and experimented on by Doctor Petral, who had for reasons unknown, tampered with the captain's adrenal cortex. Since their true mission was clandestine, they had to be careful about accusing their Ciapathian hosts of any wrongdoing. Every now and then, there was a breakthrough of barely controlled emotion. Riker was beginning to see that Picard's exterior was just that, as well crafted as it was. Could it be that Jean-Luc Picard was human after all?

When the call was through, Picard turned to his first officer, and Riker did his best to appear as he would if had not been experiencing a rare hangover.

Picard glanced down at Will with a frown. "Are you well enough to proceed with the business at hand, Commander?"

Riker physically rejected the sensation of nausea that flowed through him. "Yes sir."

Picard nodded with enthusiasm, and Riker could see the man looked healthy and invigorated. Apparently, the captain was on to something-he believed he had some information on Admiral Forrester that could expose what Picard believed was Forrester's corruption, and possibly worse. Picard set his datapad down in front of them and they watched the screen shift to the face of someone who was familiar enough to him.

Riker's jaw dropped. "That's...that's Li..." He looked at Picard with confusion. "Or at least, an older version of Li?"

Picard was not surprised, but instead was fixated on the screen as the man began to speak. Occasionally, Data's voice could be heard, posing carefully asked questions, but for the most part, the man on the tiny viewscreen talked without interruption. "My father is quite simply a monster," began the dark-haired man. He appeared to Picard to be in his early 30's, possibly older. The expression was cold, and hardened, nothing like Li's innocent, frightened expression, but otherwise, the resemblance to the young Tranan was unmistakable. "Until I was about five years old, my memories of my father were murky, but not really negative in any way. My sister Amanda...she's five years older than I am...well, we had a normal upbringing for those first few years, I guess. As normal as can be expected when your father is a Starfleet career officer. Then the accident happened...we were all home on Earth for a few weeks of shore leave, and I can remember we were traveling in Malaysia-there were all kinds of typhoon warnings one day, and I remember my mother and father arguing about whether to go out on a short shuttle trip. My father insisted we go, despite the danger-anyway, we were caught in the storm and there was a horrible accident. We were all injured in the crash, but my sister and I had it the worst. I don't remember everything from that time-just that I was scared, and my father wasn't there for me. He didn't seem to care that we were injured, but yet he was always at the hospital, talking with doctors, and examining our health progress reports. Once we were released, it was as though we didn't exist to him anymore. You should talk to Amanda...she knows more than I do, but she's a lot like my father; stubborn and cold."

Picard and Riker sat silent for a few minutes and finally looked at each other.

"Have you ever wished you didn't know the full story?" Riker asked quietly.

Picard sighed. "As much as the pieces of this coming together are starting to horrify me, Number One, we must get to the truth of this. If I am correct, Forrester and Petral have had a pact for years. And a very evil one, at that."

Riker felt like his head was about to explode. "Did he-did he actually experiment on his own children? Is that where this is going?"

Picard was staring up at the ceiling and then closed his eyes briefly. "What if Admiral Forrester took his own children's DNA," said Picard leveling his gaze at Riker, "and sold it to the Ciapathians?"

"It's the cloaking technology he wants," agreed Riker. "At any cost."

A few hours later, Picard was adjusting the collar of his dress uniform when there was a knock on his door. "Come in," he called out. Alyssa Ogawa entered first, then Beverly Crusher, both carrying medkits. He took a sharp breath in. He had experienced the most erotic dream the night before about Beverly, and the details were still etched into his mind. He could still feel the sensation of her bare skin against his, and it was difficult to concentrate. He gritted his teeth and forced a smile. "Hello Doctor Ogawa, Doctor Crusher...what can I do for you?"

"That's Nurse Ogawa, Captain," Alyssa corrected him gently as she opened the medkit in search of a hypo. "But you can call me Alyssa," she said with a genuine smile.

"Hmm," he agreed, happy to have another distraction other than Beverly. "Very well. Now, what can I do for you both?"

Beverly had been standing far away from him with her gaze occasionally shifting toward the bed. She was clearly uncomfortable. She shoved her hands in her pockets and finally looked in his general direction. "Just a routine check-up, captain," she assured him. "Del's coronation is in an hour, and I want to make sure your medication is leveled off so that you can function as well as can be expected in a high-pressure setting."

He nodded and shifted his gaze away from her and back to Ogawa. "Alright. Please proceed."

"How did you sleep, Captain?" Nurse Ogawa asked, approaching with a med scanner.

He scratched the back of his neck. "I uh...I did sleep...I think," he said awkwardly. He glanced at Beverly, who was now watching him with an odd expression on her face.

"Alyssa, could you give us a minute alone?"

"Of course, Doctor."