To Riker's surprise, the Millers were human, not Betazoid. Picard greeted them with his usual courtesy, then escorted them to their quarters, with Riker staying quiet and following along.
And then it was time to bring the bride and groom on board.
Riker tried not to think any uncharitable thoughts that might interfere with the delicate workings of the transporter. It would be entirely too easy to let his jealous wishes rewrite reality here; he had to maintain control. He closed his eyes, trying to direct his perceptions to the planet below, to think of anything except the incoming matter stream...
His trance was only broken by Deanna's voice. "Captain, I'm sorry this is happening on such short notice. If I had known sooner--"
"It's not your fault, Counselor," Picard said. "I am... happy to hear of this joyous occasion." His effort to sound sincere didn't entirely work; but then, it wouldn't have mattered with Deanna, anyway. "And this must be Wyatt Miller."
"Yes, Captain," Wyatt said, stepping down from the transporter pad to shake Picard's hand.
"Welcome aboard," Picard said. "I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and this is my first officer, Commander Riker..."
"Riker," Wyatt said, turning to look at him. "Deanna mentioned you. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Wyatt was young, handsome, and-- it seemed to Riker-- not all there. Riker very much wanted to ask what Deanna had said, what had happened between them, but it would be out of place. He just shook Wyatt's hand. "Welcome to the Enterprise, Mr. Miller."
"Your families are already in their rooms," Picard said, "so if you'd like to join them..."
Wyatt nodded and moved towards the door, but Deanna held back. "There's some things I need to take care of now that I'm back," she said. "You can go ahead, I'll be there in a little while."
"All right," Wyatt said. He left the room; Riker was greatly relieved to see Picard go with him. The transporter operator also left, his work done for the moment.
"What happened, Deanna?" Riker asked, as soon as they had privacy. "What's he like?"
Deanna hesitated. "He's a good man, Will," she said. "You don't need to worry about that. He's kind, gentle, sensitive for a human-- maybe because he grew up on Betazed..."
"How well do you know him?"
"To be honest, I hardly know him at all. We met once, when we were children... it was too long ago to remember, now. And he's somehow... distant. I don't think I'm what he expected."
"Do you love him?" It was the most important question, as far as Riker was concerned.
Deanna sighed. "I... can learn to," she said hesitantly.
"You know you don't have to go through with this, if you don't want to," Riker said. "The Federation has a law--"
"I know, Will. But I do have to." Deanna closed her eyes, blinking away the beginnings of tears. "For my mother, for my father. Wyatt isn't a bad person. He's a doctor, he wants to help people." She reached out and gently touched Riker's hand. "Thank you, Will. For caring. And for understanding."
"Always," Riker said.
"I do have to go now. Work-- things I have to take care of." Deanna went to the door. "I'll see you later."
Riker nodded silently, watching her go. He did care, he definitely did, but he wasn't at all sure he understood.
-------------------------
As it turned out, there was time for a staff meeting that evening. Picard, Riker, Data, Worf, Yar, and Dr. Crusher attended; Troi was, understandably, occupied with other matters. With the senior staff gathered around the observation lounge table, Picard began the discussion.
"I'm sure you're all aware of the circumstances of our most recent encounter with Q," Picard said. There were general nods of confirmation.
"All too aware," Worf muttered.
"And most of you are also aware that Mr. Riker has joined Q's... 'organization', and possesses the same powers."
Nods again; apparently it was common knowledge among the bridge crew. Only Yar didn't indicate that she already knew, and she seemed to take it in stride.
"Then I'm sure you all see the problem I'm faced with," Picard said. "How are we going to deal with this?"
"Deal with what?" Crusher asked. "I'm not sure what the problem is."
"Mr. Riker has informed me that Q's powers go well beyond what we've seen him exhibit so far," Picard said. "In effect, he has become a god."
"I wouldn't put it quite that way," Riker interjected.
"My first concern," Picard continued, "is a security issue. I don't like the idea of this information becoming public knowledge. Aside from the people in this room, how many other people know about it?"
"Counselor Troi and her mother, Wesley, and possibly Lieutenant La Forge," Riker said. "And the Q, of course."
Picard let out a small sigh of relief. "Good. That's not too many, then."
"I'll tell Wesley to treat it as confidential," Dr. Crusher said.
"I agree, sir," Yar added. "Power like that would make an excellent secret weapon to use against strong enemies."
"Which brings me to my second concern," Picard said gravely. "Should we make use of this power at all?"
"We've been over that before," Riker said. "I don't see why not. I'm not suggesting that I should just replace the warp drive or anything--" he chuckled slightly at this; no one else did-- "but when I can use my abilities to help with a mission, I don't think there's anything wrong with that."
"The problem with that," Picard said, "is that it's a dangerous road to go down. If we start relying on your powers whenever they might be useful, what's the use of having a ship and crew anymore? Why bother travelling, when you can take us to our destination with the snap of a finger? Who knows what we might miss if we let you do things the quick way, rather than doing it ourselves?"
"What if we get into trouble?" Riker countered. "If we run into something dangerous..."
"Danger is part of our mission," Picard said. "It's part of exploration. It's part of life! For us mortals, that is."
"If we cannot confront death and spit in its face," Worf added, "we are without honor." He glowered at Riker, as if to call him a coward for having chosen immortality. Riker tried to convince himself that he was just imagining that implication.
"So what do you want me to do?" Riker asked defensively. "Do you want to do things by yourselves? Or am I still a member of the crew here?"
"Of course you're a member of the crew," Picard said. "And you are welcome to contribute your human skills and abilities to your duty."
