Read Star Trek: The Next Generation - 020 - Q-In-Law for Free Online Page B

uncomfortably.
     
     
"Up?" "I don't know what it is," she told him.
     
     
"That bothers me. Just a funny feeling that something's going to happen." "But nothing specific." Picard was all business. If there was one thing he had learned, it was to trust Guinan's hunches.
     
     
"No, nothing specific." "Do you think it's necessary to cancel the wedding?" It was a display of his confidence in her. On her say-so, he would scrap the entire affair, and even though Starfleet would raise all hell about it, he would unflinchingly take the heat.
     
     
She couldn't abuse that trust, especially when she wasn't precisely sure what was making her feel this way.
     
     
"It'll be fine," she said with a confidence she didn't entirely feel. "I'll just keep alert, and if I can lock it down, I'll let you know immediately." He nodded curtly. Then he reapplied his best diplomatic smile, turned, and faced the members of the Tizarin.
     
     
"Now, then, you wanted to see the bridge..."
     
     
Kerin and Sehra stood on the observation deck of the Nistral ship, gazing at the glistening, majestic starship that hung next to them. The Nistral ship was half again as large as the Enterprise, but nevertheless the young people found the Enterprise to be most impressive.
     
     
"You nervous?" said Sehra, holding his hand.
     
     
Her fingers were interlaced with his.
     
     
"Not at all," he replied, but he squeezed her hand with a firmness that seemed to indicate, if nothing else, a certain degree of anxiety.
     
     
"How about you?" She returned the grip. "Not in the least." "When do we go aboard?" he asked.
     
     
She shrugged. "Tomorrow, I think. By that time, the last of the Federation guests will have shown up, and then the celebration can begin." "A week," he said softly, wi/lly.
     
     
"An entire week. Gods. Now that we've committed to each other... it seems like an eternity. An eternity to wait." "To wait for marriage?" she asked.
     
     
"For... everything," he replied. He smiled ruefully. "But I'll wait. As my father waited, and your father, and theirs before them..." "Yes, you're right," she said. "I mean, everything has to wait for a week..." She paused significantly. "Doesn't it?" He looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. "Doesn't it?" "Well..." She paused thoughtfully.
     
     
"We are to be married. That's definite. Nothing can change that." "Nothing," he agreed readily.
     
     
"So if we didn't wait for... everything... maybe it wouldn't be so bad." He paused. "Are we talking about the same thing?" One of her fingers rubbed the inside of his palm, and he trembled. For some reason there was a pounding in his head that resounded throughout his body.
     
     
"I think so," she said softly.
     
     
"But it's not right. It's not proper. It's not tradition. What would our parents say?" "They're on the Enterprise. Who's going to tell them?" "Right. Let's go." He bolted towards his room, almost yanking her arm from the socket as he ran. She dashed after him, trying to keep up with him and with her hand, which was firmly in his, and she laughed with a joyous laugh that was like a bell.
     
     
Picard always took pride in his ship, but rarely more so than when people who were truly knowledgeable in the ways of space vessels look the Enterprise over with nods of approval. And who could be more knowledgeable than people who have lived, from birth, in the airless byways of space?
     
     
Graziunas and Nistral walked around, nodding briskly, running their fingers over the consoles and studying the displays. Their wives stood by impassively. Deanna Troi watched them with interest.
     
     
"Impressive," said Nistral at length.
     
     
"Most impressive." He turned just in time to see Data walk out of the turbolift, and he gasped in surprise.
     
     
"Gods!" he said.
     
     
Data stopped, his head slightly cocked with curiosity. Graziunas, anticipating some problem, spun in his place and blinked. "I'll be damned," he exclaimed. "If I didn't