Part 11 (1/2)
Jean-Luc scowled at her. ”That doesn't make me feel much better, Guinan. She's very nice-for a terrorist. Unfortunately, being nice isn't enough sometimes.”
”I know,” Guinan said, nodding. ”My third husband was nice. Every day he'd do a little something special, like bring me flowers or candy or something like that. It got annoying as h.e.l.l after a while.”
”What happened to him?”
”He died in a freak gardening accident.”
Picard stared at her a moment. It was always hard to tell if Guinan was telling the truth or not at times like these. She smiled right back at him, and he decided that it didn't really matter. ”But the Vemlan androids aren't my only problem.”
”Data?” she asked.
Picard nodded. ”I didn't expect him to be happy about my decision, but ...”
”Why?”
”What do you mean, 'why'? He's a machine.”
”A machine that tests as alive. A machine with a personality as quirky as mine or yours.” She shook her head in slight frustration. ”Captain, every person on this s.h.i.+p is driven by something, some obsession or desire. Pure intellect can't motivate a person to do anything. Even you can see that.”
”Yes,” Picard admitted. ”We all have our driving forces. What are you trying to say?”
”That when it comes to Data, you expect him to act like the machine everybody has been trying to convince him he's not.” Guinan sighed. ”Have you ever asked Data why he entered Starfleet?”
”Yes. He entered the service to explore and expand his knowledge of the universe. My own reasons, exactly.”
”Why would he want to do that if he couldn't feel the desire to learn?”
”It's in his programming-”
”It's in your programming as well, then,” she countered. ”I may not be a scientist, but I know people. We get programmed just like any old machine does. All our lives, our experiences subtly influence us to do different things. It just takes longer than a machine. Look at the choices you've made in your career. You want to go where no one has been before, see things no one else has seen. Now did that just erupt spontaneously in your head, or were there a few things that influenced you?”
Picard shook his head sadly and smiled. ”Once again you have pointed out the obvious, Guinan. And rubbed my nose in it.”
”Well ...” She smiled. ”Consider that Data has never given you any serious problems because he has never been affected so strongly about anything except Lal before this. And even then, he didn't react like a normal human being would. If you had to condemn a s.h.i.+p full of Klingons, would you expect Worf to be happy?”
Picard spent a while just sitting, sipping, and pondering. Guinan was a good enough listener to know when she was no longer needed, so she went to check on some of her other customers. She returned only when Picard was again ready to talk. Uncanny.
”I am amazed at the tremendous diversity of life-forms we discover out here, Guinan,” he said, dreamily. ”Every mission we find living examples of how the universe is not only stranger than we imagine, but that it's stranger than we can imagine. Yet the farther we go and the stranger things become, the real impossibilities are happening all around us.” He laughed, softly. ”My tin man has a heart, and I never realized it before.”
”He's a good boy. He reminds me of a few of my children. Kind of dumb in places, but he'll catch on.”
”Yes,” agreed the captain. ”In a very real way, he is a child.”
”Don't think of him as a child, Jean-Luc,” Guinan warned. She again pulled out her rag and polished the bar. ”Data has found a whole s.h.i.+p full of his evolutionary cousins. For all practical purposes these are his people. No matter how powerful Starfleet training and his loyalty to you are, he's going to feel something for these people-something he can't turn away from.”
”Point well taken,” said Picard, finis.h.i.+ng his drink. He stood. ”Thanks for the drink.”
Guinan smiled. ”Thanks for stopping by.”
Picard returned her smile. ”Well. I think I should go find Mr. Data and speak with him.”
For the first time in a week, Geordi was relaxing. Between the damage to the Freedom, the repairs on the Enterprise, and the frequent meetings with Captain Picard on the androids, he was beat. There were just too many details for him to take care of.
When he had accepted his post as the chief engineer of the Enterprise, he had looked forward to all the perks, the respect, the authority. He hadn't counted on the headaches, and insomnia. Being the chief engineer wasn't all it was cracked up to be. But what was? Geordi enjoyed the job despite the drawbacks.
He had nearly crawled back to his cabin after overseeing the last transfer of crew and equipment back to the Enterprise, and monitoring the systems checks Picard had ordered. He'd quickly peeled off his uniform and left it in a pile by the door. There was something else that was more important, right now, something even more important than sleep.
A bubble bath.
There was a holodeck facility right next to his quarters, one he could use practically whenever he wanted. And right now he wanted-no, needed-the benefits of a hot bath. He had prepared the program weeks ago.
He slipped on a robe and headed down the corridor. A few simple commands, and the computer began a.s.sembling the program. In seconds, the door to the holodeck opened, revealing a huge, stainless steel tub filled with a mountain of bubbles. Steam rose from the water's surface, temporarily misting his VISOR.
”Beautiful,” he said to himself.
He scanned the tub with his VISOR, and, satisfied that the temperature was perfect, he stripped off his robe and settled himself gingerly into the foamy water. Almost as an afterthought, he removed the metallic VISOR from his face and placed it within easy reach outside the tub. Getting the thing wet wouldn't hurt it, of course, but the bath would leave a soapy film that was a real pain to clean.
Geordi was about to submerge everything but his nose when the door chimed.
d.a.m.n, I knew I should have turned that thing off.
”Who is it?” he called out.
”Commander Data,” came the tinny reply.
”Come in,” he called. A few seconds later, he heard the door open, and the sound of footsteps, which stopped before the tub.
”What's up, buddy?” Geordi asked.
He could almost hear the frown in Data's voice. ”What is the nature of the device you are utilizing?”
”It's a bathtub, Data.”
His friend was silent a moment. Geordi knew Data was retrieving the necessary information from his personal library. ”Ah, a device for bathing used before the invention of the aquatic shower, which was in turn replaced by the sonic bathing system. May I a.s.sume that you are in the process of a-”
”Bubble bath? Yes, I am.”
”I do not see the point. The sonic shower attachment in your lavatory unit provides an efficient method of removing surface waste from the epidermis without using the ineffective and unsanitary method of water.”
”Decadence,” Geordi explained. ”It relaxes me, Data. Hot water and soapsuds beats the h.e.l.l out of nice clean sound waves. Consider it a religious ritual, if you like.”
”I see.”
Geordi didn't have his VISOR on, and so he couldn't see his friend. Yet there was something in the android's voice that told him something was wrong.
”Data, why are you here?”
”I find myself in an unenviable position. The captain's decision to abandon the Vemlan androids to their fate is disturbing to me. It is not the course I would have pursued. Yet as a Starfleet officer, I can not help but uphold his wishes.”
”Yes,” said Geordi patiently, ”I figured as much. Data, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you into getting friendly with the androids like this. I wouldn't have if I had known what would happen.”