Star Trek The Next Generation: Discovered

Chapter 4

Two Hours Later...

"But, Bev, how could I say that to her...?" Will Riker cried to the older woman beside him. "It was uncalled for, completely cruel and cold-hearted of me!"

"Will, don't blame yourself. She just needs sometime to cool off. After all, she's had the biggest shock out of all of us."

Jean-Luc Picard sat forward, leaning towards the younger man in front of him, resting his elbows on his Ready Room desk.

"Perhaps, Number One, she is ready to forgive you now. It's been two hours since this incident and she only has a few hours before she has to leave. I'm sure she'll want to make amends before then."

"Why don't we all go down there now?" Suggested Beverley.

The two men nodded and rose from their seats.

They sounded the door chime several times, but they were not answered, so Will opened the door with his security code. The room was completely bare and dark, only a pile of discarded uniforms lay in one corner of the room.

"Computer, location of Deanna Troi?" Commanded Picard, his voice echoing slightly in the abandoned room.

"Deanna Troi is in her quarters."

"Computer, check again." Commanded Riker in confusion.

The computer gave the same answer.

"Will, on the desk." Muttered Beverley.

On Deanna's bare desk, which had once been cluttered with psychology reports; lay a single rose, a folded piece of paper and Deanna's commbadge. Will picked up the crisp, white paper and unfolded it. Deanna's curved handwriting scrolled down the page:

Imzadi,
I can no longer stay here, knowing that I can never be the woman I
once was and knowing that I cannot stay with you on the Enterprise.
Whether or not I can forgive you for what you said to me earlier, I
don't know, but know, that my love for you remains.
By the time you read this, I suspect that, I should be long gone.
Please do not make any attempts to contact me. I need time to think.

Deanna xxx

Will pressed the letter to his chest, unable to stop the tears from streaming down his cheeks.

"Will," asked Beverly, coming closer to him, "what is it?"

He handed the letter to her and picked up the deep red coloured rose. He felt the silky smooth petals, as he wiped his tears away from his cheeks with it.

"My God, Will, she must have left in the same shuttle as Admiral Osan! That was over an hour ago!" She began to sob. "How could she leave without saying goodbye?"

"I'm sorry, Bev. If I hadn't said what I did, she would have stayed till tomorrow."

Jean-Luc Picard finished reading Deanna's letter.

"There's nothing we can do, except comply with her wishes of non-communication with us..."

"Captain, I can't just let her go...!" Will interrupted.

"We must do as she has asked, Will, but be assured that this is not the end of this matter. I'm not keen on having my Counsellor dismissed so easily. I intend to appeal in a month's time; I would suggest that you do too. Mister Data has informed me that we have a very strong case and that there were no logical reasons for Deanna's dismissal. Until then, you must be strong, Will, we all do. We've all been affected by her leaving, but life must go on."

With that Jean-Luc Picard exited the empty quarters that once belonged to a close and valued friend of his. The woman who had helped retrieve him from the Borg and also assisted in his recovery, despite him being a difficult patient. She hadn't given up on him and he didn't intend to give up on her.