Part 19 (1/2)
”We talk.”
”About what?”
”About anything you want... anything except s.e.x. The whole point of this is-”
”To rise above the impulses of our bodies. Yeah, I know.” He thought about it a moment. ”Okay. Okay, I've got something to talk about.”
”What?” She sounded almost eager.
He tried to ignore the musical way her voice seemed to float, and the soft feel of her breath against the back of his car. ”This stuff I was reading about Betazed philosophy... the one you recommended to me.”
”Yes?”
”I don't get it.”
”What don't you get?”
”Well, for instance... there was this example about a woman being criticized unduly by her supervisor. And she comes and tells me about it.”
”Yes, I know the scenario. And let me guess: you came up with ways to solve her problem.”
”Right.”
”And the text informed you this was the wrong approach.”
”Right.”
”And you don't know why.”
”Right. So what can possibly be wrong about wanting to solve her problem, instead of just moaning and wailing about it.”
”There's nothing wrong with it, if that's what she wanted. But that's not what she wanted. The problem is that you're insensitive to her desires.”
”Insensitive?” Riker propped himself up on his elbow. ”How was I being insensitive? I listened to her difficulties and tried to make her life better for her.”
”She wasn't asking you to do that.”
”But if she-look, let's make up a name for her... 'Jane'...”
”Catchy name,” said Deanna dryly.
”If Jane came to me with her problem, obviously she was coming for help in solving it. That's a given.”
”No, it's not.”
”Yes it is,” he insisted. ”Look... if a technician goes to the chief engineer and says there's trouble with the warp core, the chief engineer isn't going to say, 'Oh, what a shame, that's too bad, I know how difficult this must be for you.' He's going to say, 'We've got to get that fixed!' A busted engine, an abusive boss... it all boils down to the same thing. Namely, a bad situation that needs to be repaired.”
”You're missing the point, Will.”
”No, I'm not missing the point.” He turned over to face her. Their bodies were now pressed up against each other, flesh to flesh. And incredibly, Riker wasn't paying attention. ”You're just being obstinate.”
”And you're in command mode, Will. The universe isn't Starfleet. Emotions aren't regulated. And Jane, as you call her, wasn't looking for you to solve the problem.”
”Then why in h.e.l.l did she come to me!” demanded Riker.
”She came to you because she was looking for emotional support,” said Deanna patiently. ”She knew she had a problem. She knew it had to be solved; or perhaps she wasn't going to solve it but simply live with it. Either way, though, she had to deal with it in her own way because it was her problem. What Jane was looking for from you was an augmentation of her emotional strength. She needed you to say that you were sympathetic to her difficulties and were supportive of her. This is the philosophy of RaBeem, which, simply translated, means 'I understand.' An even better way to handle it is to tell her of a time when you faced a similar situation-”
”And describe how I solved it?”
”And describe how it made you feel. So she knows that whatever frustration and embarra.s.sment she might be encountering is not unique to her. When you're unhappy or discouraged, it's very easy to believe that you're the only person in the world who has ever felt this way. Teenagers experience that feeling most sharply, but adults do also. And what Jane was simply looking for was a sense that she was not alone.”
”But... but then how does the problem get solved?
”It gets solved by her, in whatever manner she chooses. And she's also looking to you to say that whatever she does, you will support her because it's the action that she has decided to take.”
”I'm still not sure I get it.”
”Oh, you're starting to.” Deanna smiled. ”You just haven't admitted it.”
”What you're saying is that I'm faced with a problem and I shouldn't make the slightest effort to solve it.”
”That's not such a bizarre notion for you to have to deal with, Will. Isn't that what the Prime Directive is all about?”
”Not at all. We talked about that, it's completely different.”
”Only in scope, not in practice. Just because the problem involves a close friend rather than a civilization of strangers, it doesn't make the theory any less valid.”
He was about to reply but realized that he couldn't think of anything to say. Smiling sympathetically, she ran the back of her fingers across his face. ”I know it's difficult for you, Will. Your impulse is to take command. It's what you were trained for. It's what you long to do. But command isn't the be-all and end-all of life.”
”It is to me. I hope that doesn't sound egotistical, but... it's all I want to do. It's what I'm aiming for. I want to beat Kirk's record.”
She frowned politely. ”Pardon?”
”Youngest stars.h.i.+p commander in Starfleet history. That's my goal. I want my own command... and I guess my mindset sometimes shapes all of that, and makes me...”
”Want to command every situation? Every person you meet?”
He saw the slightly mocking way she raised her eyebrow. ”Not exactly... but maybe a little.” he admitted.
”Well, who knows? Someday you might find yourself in a situation where you find that you enjoy following somtone more than you would commanding.”
”Never happen. Every person I serve under is just a means of learning more and more so I can have my own command.”
”You can't see yourself serving with someone simply for the sheer joy of serving with them? Or with the others on board the s.h.i.+p?”
”Never happen. No matter how much I liked the s.h.i.+p or crew, if I was then offered my own command, I'd be out of there in a heartbeat. Trust me on this.” Then he paused. ”You probably don't understand.”