ROLLERCOASTER
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Roads Less Travelled
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'Worf?'
Deanna blinked at the Klingon. Something strange had just happened. There was a moment of confusion in her mind as she looked at him… as though, for the briefest instance, he had become a stranger. The feeling had quickly left her again, and she would have discounted it as her mind playing tricks on her… if only Worf himself wasn't so suddenly disoriented.
Shaking his head in confusion, the Klingon set down his untouched slice of cake. Deanna reached out to touch his arm, lightly.
'Worf, are you all right?'
Worf looked at her, his Klingon bravado masking how obviously shaken he was.
'Why are there so many people in my quarters?'
Deanna frowned. His confusion was genuine. Had he suffered a sudden bout of amnesia, perhaps…?
'We threw you a Birthday Party,' she told him, gently. 'Remember?'
'Why?'
'Because… it's your Birthday?'
'Why a second one?'
Now Deanna was getting as confused as Worf. 'What?'
'There was to be a small gathering in Ten Forward this evening,' Worf replied. 'The only reason that I agreed to that was to avoid…' he waved his large hand at the festivities still going on around him, '…something like this. It was all arranged before I left for the tournament.'
'Nothing was arranged,' Troi argued, 'at least, as far as you were aware. We were all very careful to keep this a surprise.'
Worf growled. 'She knows I cannot stand surprises!' He started looking about himself. 'Where is she?'
'Where's who?'
'Tasha!'
The room fell silent at Worf's irritated cry. Deanna felt as though her heart had fallen through the floor at the call of that name. And he really did think that Tasha should be at the party, didn't he? Poor Worf. What had happened to his mind?
'Commander Yar,' Worf barked again, as all eyes in the room gazed at him in quiet horror, 'this was not what was decided. You have dishonoured our agreement. Come out of hiding and show yourself…'
'That's enough, Worf,' snapped Riker. 'If you really didn't want us to carry on with the party, you should have just said so. I don't know what's gotten into you, but you're upsetting a lot of people.'
Deanna pulled at Worf's arm again. 'Worf, Tasha isn't here. And she certainly never made Commander. Don't you remember?' She gazed into his heavy browed eyes. No. He honestly had no idea what she was talking about.
'Tasha's dead.'
He pulled away from her, shocked. 'When?'
'Six years ago,' Troi replied. 'Vagra II. Armus…'
'Armus attacked the crew of the Telemachus,' Worf told her, obstinately. 'He killed four Starfleet Officers as well as all of the passengers on board the transport shuttle it was sent to retrieve.'
'No, Worf.' Deanna struggled to rein in her own emotions as well as those of the people about her who still mourned their fallen friend. 'Armus attacked us. And I know very well that the passengers of that shuttle were saved, because I was one of them. Tasha lost her life saving mine. How can you not remember that, Worf?'
'You were never on that shuttle!' Worf was growing desperate now. 'You were unwell…'
'I think there's only one of us here who's unwell,' interjected Dr Crusher. 'You'd better come with me to Sickbay, Worf.'
'I am not unwell! I remember…'
'You'll go to Sickbay, Lieutenant,' Riker announced. 'That's an order.'
As Deanna watched Worf leave with the Doctor, she noticed Geordi, from the corner of her eye, set down his own plate and give Data a short, consoling pat on the shoulder.
'Guess the party's over.'
-x-
'Woah. Easy there, Worf.'
Geordi wasn't quite sure whether or not he should help Worf steady himself. Witnessing a Klingon almost black out was certainly a new experience for him, and he didn't know what the etiquette was in that sort of situation. Figuring that it would likely be horribly humiliating for Worf to be physically supported as he fought off the dizziness, he just hovered around him, feeling a little useless. Thankfully for everybody involved, Worf quickly recovered his sense of equilibrium. He did, however, seem to be utterly bewildered, and blinked around at Engineering as though in a dream.
'You OK?' Geordi asked. 'You want me to contact Dr Crusher?'
'She was here…' Worf muttered, indicating to the computer bank in front of him. 'Or… I was there…'
'Huh?'
'Why am I in Engineering? I had been sent to Sickbay.'
'Maybe you should be sent to Sickbay.' Geordi frowned at him. 'Worf, you've been here with me for the last five minutes. Remember? The Argus Array?'
'Wouldn't Commander Yar be more…' Worf stopped himself, suddenly. 'Of course. I would have been her replacement.'
'What about me?' Tasha asked from behind Worf.
The Klingon very nearly jumped out of his skin. He span around in surprise to face Lieutenant Commander Yar.
'You are…' struggled Worf, 'not dead…'
Yar quirked an eyebrow. 'Not as far as I'm aware. Are you all right? You look like you've seen a ghost.'
Worf shook his head. 'I believe I've just suffered a vivid hallucination, but it appears to have passed now.'
'When you got dizzy, you mean?' Geordi clarified.
'I imagined a surprise party thrown for my birthday,' Worf explained, 'only you, Tasha, were long-dead. You had died in the line of duty during an alternative version of the events of the Telemachus Tragedy…'
Telemachus Tragedy…? Geordi and Tasha exchanged glances.
'You mean, Wolf 359?'
'No,' replied Worf, 'Armus.'
Geordi's breath caught in the back of his throat, and Yar's expression hardened.
'I've told you before,' warned Tasha, stonily. 'I don't ever want to hear that name again.'
'Perhaps I should see Dr Crusher,' Worf muttered to himself.
'If you must,' Yar told the Klingon. 'But I'll need another Security Officer down here to replace you – we have to get through this information as quickly as possible, and me and Geordi alone just won't be fast enough…'
'Surely Commander Data will be able to process this information in seconds…'
Geordi's throat tensed up again. What the Hell was Worf thinking?
Worf glanced around Engineering, oblivious to the expressions of the others. 'Where is Commander Data?'
For a moment, Tasha flushed, and looked as though she were trying not to cry. Just before Geordi caught her arm, she let out a deep, calming breath.
'I've got a feeling your mind's still playing tricks on you, Worf,' she replied.
'Is he on the Bridge?' Worf asked.
'Oh, Worf,' Tasha sighed. 'Data's where he always is.'
She patted her chest, drawing attention to the small lump that was always just visible protruding from the valley of her breasts beneath her uniform. Still, Worf seemed clueless. Wordlessly, Tasha reached into the neck of her tunic and pulled out the necklace and large, crystal pendant that she had worn for the last 6 years. As she held the crystal up to Worf's eyes, a small hologram fizzled into being. The tiny image of Data flickered as the hologram stood awkwardly and attempted a half-smile. Geordi looked down, fighting back memories of that terrible, heartbreaking funeral.
Worf stared at the hologram.
'Dead?'
'We'd barely got to know him,' Tasha replied, sadly. 'He was one of the good ones.' She switched off the small, translucent image. 'Not a days goes by that I don't wish I'd let him know that when I had the chance.'
'He is not dead.'
'Worf,' Geordi interjected, 'it's been six years. If the Daystrom Institute couldn't fix him, if even his creator couldn't fix him once he'd finally emerged from the woodwork…' Geordi trailed off. Worf still looked nonplussed. 'You do remember all those things happening, don't you?'
'None of those things did happen,' argued Worf.
'I think you should report to Sickbay,' Tasha suggested.
'I was just in Sickbay!'
Tasha tapped her Comms Badge. 'Yar to Dr Crusher. Has Lieutenant Worf been to see you recently?'
'No,' replied the Doctor's disembodied voice over the Comms link. 'Why – what's the matter with him?'
'You can see for yourself,' Tasha replied. 'I'm sending him over to you straight away. Yar out.'
There was a moment's stalemate as Tasha glared at the unmoving Klingon.
'Do I have to call a consort of Security Officers to escort you there, Lieutenant?'
Worf scowled for a second longer, then sighed in acceptance. 'That will not be necessary. Sir.'
Geordi watched as Worf left Engineering.
'I'll get Llewellyn down here to go over the information with us,' he muttered. He caught Tasha's arm. She seemed flushed again. 'You OK?'
'Yeah,' Tasha breathed. 'Bad memories.'
'Tell me about it. You know, I honestly think he did believe Data was still alive.'
'I know.' Tasha gave him a small, sad smile. 'Whatever imaginary world Worf's in right now, I wish I lived in it too.'
-x-
'What happened, Lieutenant?'
Riker frowned at Lieutenant Worf. He had never seen the Klingon looking so bewildered before in all his days. Of all the times to freeze up, too – on the Bridge with a Cardassian warship approaching. They were out of the woods now, but if Riker hadn't stepped in… he had never had to intervene in another Officer's duty before to see that it was properly executed while he'd been First Officer of the ship. He'd never had to – this crew was supposed to be the best of the best. Worf had come highly recommended by Lietenant Commander Yar when she'd accepted the Second Officer post, and for over six years now he had served them well at Tactical. But now… it was as though Riker were looking at a completely different person. This Worf was shaken and confused, blinking at the Tactical panel as though he'd never seen it before in his life. This wasn't the unflappable rock that Riker had worked with; battled with; lost the woman he loved to. Who was this?
'I am not familiar with this panel,' Worf mumbled, staring down at the console at the Tactical post.
'It hasn't altered one bit since the day we took the ship out of Spacedock,' Riker replied.
'Mr Worf,' Picard added, 'if you don't believe you're fit for duty…'
Worf shook his head, dogmatically. 'I will be fine. I just need time to understand the configuration of this new console…'
'But it isn't new…'
'It is to me,' breathed the Klingon, scrutinising the panel.
Deanna was on her feet, her dark features furrowed with concern. 'Do you have any idea what could have triggered this amnesia?'
'It is not amnesia,' Worf replied, desperately. 'Reality keeps… changing around me…' he broke off, scanning the Bridge as though for the first time. 'If Commander Data were here, perhaps he could hypothesise reasons why this is happening… reasons beside my losing my faculties…' he nodded at Yar, watching him worriedly from her post at Ops. 'I take it from Commander Yar's position, however, that he remains deceased in this version of reality.'
Riker screwed up his face. Worf was just babbling now – spouting hysterical nonsense.
'Who's Commander Data?' Tasha asked, softly.
'An android Officer,' Worf insisted. 'He…'
Riker felt his eyebrows hit his hairline. 'Android? Officer? You don't mean one the construction bots, surely?'
Worf suddenly looked rather sad. 'No sentient artificial lifeform has ever been created?'
Riker shook his head. 'The construction bots are supposed to be close to sentience… there was that Soong guy who thought he could make 'em fully aware… poor bastard.'
'Dr Soong was incapable of perfecting the positronic brain?' Worf asked with the same faint sadness.
Riker exchanged glances with Deanna. Everybody knew about Soong – it was practically a modern-day cautionary fable about trying to play God.
'Soong was a lunatic,' Riker explained. 'Set fire to his lab and then hung himself. Schoolchildren know that.'
At her post, Tasha shuddered. 'Got what was coming,' she muttered. 'Those bots give me the creeps as it is without giving them brains.'
'The macabre rumours surrounding a 30 year old lab fire are neither here nor there,' interjected Picard. 'Mr Worf, I can't risk you serving on my Bridge while you're in this state of confusion.'
'Sickbay again,' sighed Worf.
'"Again"? You haven't been confined to Sickbay for years,' countered Deanna.
'I'll tell Dr Pulaski to expect you shortly,' Picard added.
'Pulaski,' echoed Worf, emptily. 'It will make a variation, at least.' He paused. 'I take it that Sickbay is where it has been in past realities…?'
Picard shook his head. 'Counsellor, perhaps you should act as an escort for your husband. Just to ensure he doesn't wander out of an airlock by mistake.'
Worf took one step towards the Turbolift, then stopped, and did a double-take at Deanna.
'Husband?' he repeated, wearily.
Riker pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. It was going to be a long day.
