Geordi remembered her eyes. She was sitting at the bar in ten forward. Was it two weeks ago, or three? It didn't matter, he remembered her eyes, flicking up to meet his gaze, a smile lingering on her lips, her fingers wrapped around a drink. Her eyes were dark, and laughing.
"Ensign Riley," Geordi said. "Mind if I sit?"
"Uh." Justine's smile faded slightly. "Sure, lieutenant."
He slid in beside her. "What are you drinking?"
"Oh, uh, Metachlodian gin." Justine tipped the glass to get a better look at the pale pink liquor. "It's very sweet." She looked over her shoulder to see a group of ensigns carousing their way into ten forward. "Excuse me, lieutenant, my friends are here." Without looking back she left to meet them.
Geordi turned back to the bar, feeling slighted.
"Don't," Guinan said, reading his mind again. She slid him a drink.
Geordi took it. "Don't what?"
"I've seen that look," Guinan teased. "She likes you fine. But don't you stiffen up when the boss comes to visit?"
Geordi felt his sour mood dissolve. He smirked. "I'm no Captain Picard."
"I doubt your ensigns feel that way. Drink up."
Geordi tossed the drink back, brooding on Justine and her dark, laughing eyes.
Three weeks into the future those eyes had changed. The laughter in them disappeared and the dark pupils were now an empty void. No one had been able to stop Justine as she ran from the brig, tearing off her comlink and throwing it in a corner. The security detail found her work jacket halfway down another hallway. While Picard dispatched a team to find her, Geordi slipped quietly away. He knew where she was.
He found her in the third access tunnel under the engine, ripping out the paneling and running her tricorder over the exposed wiring. She glanced at Geordi briefly, her face blank, eyes empty. "Oh, hello, lieutenant. I think I've found the problem for the thermal regulator. If I can just manually adjust the ionic linkages…" she grunted and thrust her hands deep into the wiring. Without her work jacket her arms were bare to her shoulders.
"Justine," Georid said quietly. "You need to come out of there."
"No, no, this will work, I'm sure." She wiped one hand across her cheek, spreading a grease stain. "If I can just…"
A sudden shower of sparks sent Justine rocking backwards.
"Justine, you're not helping."
"Don't tell me what I'm not doing!" She shrieked, and threw her tricorder at him. It clattered uselessly at his feet. "Don't tell me anything! This is important. I have to do this, I have to fix this."
"Justine…"
"I'm not her daughter." Justine's lip trembled. "I'm not. I have a family. The computer's … gone wacky, it's done that before, tomorrow I'll call my mommy." She pressed her back against the engine and slid to a sit, arms limp across her knees, all her energy suddenly drained.
Geordi sat beside her and opened his arms without speaking. Justine leaned stiffly into his embrace.
"Engine sounds nice," she breathed, and closed her eyes.
The security team found them half an hour later, shining their flashlights into the access tunnel. Geordi put one hand up to block the light. "She's sleeping," he whispered.
Troi's concerned face came into view. "Let's get her out of here."