Star Trek: Constellations
Westfall/Star Trek TNG Crossover Fanfiction #1
Scene 13
Captain Jean-Luc Picard was sitting at the desk of his ready room with a tablet in hand. His other hand idly fingered his chin as the relative silence of the room matched the steady zipping of stars in the window behind him.
The two-toned door chime broke the silence. His eyes drifted up.
“Come.”
The door opened to reveal an officer in a yellow uniform with brown and white hair draping over her shoulders. Her face showed determination, though even the captain could notice the apprehension creeping in and flattening her usual neutral expression.
“Ms. Inova,” Jean-Luc set down his tablet and leaned back in his chair.
“Captain, may I speak with you?” Her words were just as uneasy.
“Of course,” he gestured to the chair in front of him and sat up in his own as Gemini sat down in front of him. “I trust you are feeling better today?”
Gemini’s eyes immediately broke contact as they darted to the table. “Yes, sir. I apologize for my actions yesterday; I put the entire ship in danger.”
“Yet, you still carried out your duties, if not at the eleventh hour,” he cocked an eyebrow. “I assume this is not what you were wanting to speak to me about, however?”
She refocused on her captain. “I wanted to ask you about the Westfall refugees.”
“Go ahead.” Jean-Luc remained receptive.
“Do they,” she paused, chewing on her bottom lip, “do they all need to depart at Starbase 203?”
Jean-Luc’s hands clasped together as his brows raised. “Yes; I understood those were the plans you set for this mission after speaking to the Federation representative there,” he reminded her gently. “Much like you and the other Aravasti who developed abilities far beyond your human heritage, the Federation was hoping to further study the effects of their ‘abandonment’—for lack of a better word—to see if they, too, have experienced any genetic changes. And then, they would be brought to their new home.”
Gemini’s dulled exterior was quickly cracking. “Yes, sir,” she again lost eye contact. “But... if one... if one were to stay behind...”
The captain’s neutral expression was also beginning to shift in a sort of amusement. “Yes?”
The Aravasti sucked in a breath. “Captain,” she straightened in her chair, “I would like to petition for one of them to stay aboard. I was once in their place, and Data petitioned on my behalf to stay on the Enterprise—”
“Ms. Inova,” Jean-Luc interrupted her, leaning forward with a hand gently outstretched. “I’m afraid that is ultimately not my decision to make.”
“Then—as the mission leader—is it mine?”
“No, ma’am, it is not.”
Her brows scrunched together as her expression fell. “But—sir,” she gnashed her teeth, pressed her hands on the table, and pushed to her feet. “Captain, all things considered, I think may be best that I resign—”
“It is ultimately Mr. Rowlett’s decision.” Captain Picard stressed over her frantic admission.
Gemini froze, her mouth still open from the words she had abruptly stopped speaking. Her face flushed, and the tips of her fingers were still glued to the table. She had not so much as mentioned Hudson’s name, and yet, the captain already knew.
With a knowing smile—that bordered on a discerning smirk—Jean-Luc again gestured to the seat across from him.
Gemini’s lips were squashed tight as she returned to her chair.
“Ms. Inova,” the captain’s voice had returned to its usual calming timbre, “I will gladly accept your petition to allow Mr. Rowlett to remain on the Enterprise—if he chooses so. He must understand what that entails, just as you did when you, ultimately, made the decision for yourself.”
He folded his hands on the table as Gemini remained quiet. “He needs to understand the distance he will have from his comrades if he stays with us, as well as the dangers serving aboard such a starship will include him in. And, while he does not have to become a commissioned officer as you did, I hope he will consider serving as a crewman. The Enterprise could use a good mechanic.” He added with a grin.
The Aravasti at last broke into a smile of her own, breathing out her anxiety as she nodded.
With the tension subsiding, the captain sat back in his chair. “He will still need to depart to Starbase 203 with the others, but he is allowed to return afterwards.”
“Understood,” Gemini set her hands in her lap as the weight lifted from her shoulders. “I’m sorry, sir; I didn’t know you were aware...”
“I’ve noticed a few... ‘signs,’ as it were,” he grinned. “And it’s hard not to probe my crewmembers for information when one of my bridge officers exhibits behavior that does not suit her.”
Gemini sheepishly turned her eyes to her hands.
Jean-Luc simply smiled. “Will that be all, Lieutenant?”
“Yes, Captain.”
He clasped his hands together. “Then I grant you permission to inform him before returning to your duties.”
She met his eyes. “Thank you, Captain.”
They both stood: Gemini to leave and Jean-Luc in respect.
“Ms. Inova,” he called to her before she could reach the door.
She glanced over her shoulder.
An insightful smile tugged at his lips. “Mr. Rowlett must mean a great deal to you if you would consider leaving Starfleet to remain with him.”
She bit her lip and glanced aside, knowing full well she was blushing.
“I trust his being aboard will not further interfere with your duties?”
She held her breath and turned back to him. “No, sir; not anymore,” she replied firmly.
He nodded to her in dismissal, and Gemini Inova exited the room with a much lighter spring in her step.
Scene Notes
- More overdramatic Gemini, but it worked out :)