Planet of Silence
Chapters Fifteen and Sixteen
Chapter Fifteen
First Officer's Log
Eight others from the original away team tried to leave the ship without prior authorization. Doctor Crusher believes it may have something to do with the infection they acquired from Syrina. However, she can't be sure until she examines all of them and gets more information about the planet. The last maybe more difficult, because the natives of Syrina were too shy to make contact with them to know why they stayed on a planet that caused them not to hear.
My theory is, they may have been born that way because of the planet and don't know any different. Whatever the reason is, Counselor Mriana Troi is more of a concern right now, for she has been a captive of the Cardassians for an hour now. We are currently trying to figure out a way to get her back peacefully and unharmed, while continuing to keep our promise of assylum to the deaf Cardassians we have on board. Not an easy endeavor with how the situation is going.
Geordi has suggested that the better course of action maybe for him and another crew man or two to beam over to where we think she approximately is and retrieve her that way. Captain Picard is considering the idea, but he really does not want to take more chances in loosing any more crew to the Cardassians.
End Personal log
On the Cardassain ship, Mriana was being escorted down the corridors by two Cardassians. She was trying to think of ways to escape. There were only two Cardassians, but the odds were still against her. She considered the Klingon Defense Maneuvers Worf had taught her before she lost her hearing.
"I could try it." She thought. "But with two of them I could be risking my life for sure."
Her face still stung and was now throbbing. Swelling had begun, but she felt most of the bleeding had stopped. Her fear was turning back into anger as her mind raced to think of a way to escape.
As she was thinking, her aunt was trying to communicate with her. She knew that her aunt and cousin were trying hard to stay in contact with her right now, so that maybe a rescue could take place. However, she was determined to get away from the two Cardassians who were taking her to the captain quarters.
There was also another problem. They had bound her hands and placed a gag in her mouth. Plus, they had given her something to slightly sedate her, so there would be less fight in her. No Klingon Defense Maneuver could help her unless she could free herself of the ropes that held her hands and fight the effects of the drug. She pondered just using her legs for defense, but she had to be more sure of herself.
As she thought about her next move, she saw the Cardassians talking, but could not read a word of what they were saying. She figured they were talking in Cardassian. So, she decided to do her best to pick up on their emotions and hopefully random thoughts. Picking up on their thoughts was difficult, because she did not have enough contact with them to know them enough to sense their thoughts. Her empathic abilities had sharpened quite a bit since she lost her hearing, but her random telepathy seemed to only work best on those she had known for a long time. Even so, she knew that if she were to survive any of this, she was going to have to try and tap in on them as much as possible.
Her captures shoved her into the room with their phasers. Then, after they had pushed her face down to the deck, she slowly rolled her sore body to her back and saw them talking again.
As they talked, she raised herself to a sitting position and continued to watch and scope the room. Finally, one left and it was just the one Cardassian gaurding her.
"Now maybe my chance."
Suddenly, he yanked her up and tried to push her into the sleeping area, but she surprised him with a couple of Klingon leg moves. Moves which, if she were a Klingon of Worf's strength, would have killed him. Instead, he fell to the floor just as a phaser blast flew past her head. She succeeded despite the effects of the mild sedative.
Until the phaser blast went past her, she was hopeful and thought, "It works!" However, her excitement did not last long, because she was really begining to feel the effects of the drug now.
Lwaxana heard her excited expression and reported it to the crew of the Enterprise. Worf smiled and his only thought was, "She learned well."
Then Lwaxana sensed her next predicament and nearly collasped from the bouncing of emotions. She was now really worried until she sensed the next emotion Mriana had.
Meanwhile, Picard was talking to Captain Taralak on the screen. "We will not tolerate this! Return her at once!" He said. His patience had been really stretched and his nerves had begun to come undone. He tried desparately to reign them in, but this Cardassian was really testing his patience.
"Not until you return the fugitives to us! She will suffer a worse fate than she has now in approximately one of your hours if you do not return them."
"We have granted them assylum. We will not go back on our word and release them to you." Picard informed.
"Then she will die!"
"Allow me to see her then, so that we know she is currently unharmed." Picard requested calmly.
"Sir." Said one of the Cardassian crew members. "Urgent matter."
Suddenly, the communication between the Enterprise and the Cardassian ship had been severed.
"What is it?" Taralak barked.
"She's escaped and Lieutenant Bura has been injured. She is now missing."
"She couldn't have gone far. Find her!"
"Counselor, what do you make of this?" Picard asked.
"They're trying to hide the fact she has escaped, but I can't tell how she has done this yet."
"I can tell you." Lwaxana informed. "She hasn't escaped. She is still in the hands of a Cardassian!"
They all turned to look at Lwaxana. "Do you know where she is now?" Riker asked.
Lwaxana shook her head. "There seems to be some difficulty with communication and she is not concentrating on me at the moment. She is extremely frighten at the moment."
The new Cardassian put the weapon down. "I won't harm you."
His words fell on deaf ears as Mriana watched his lips move. Tears began to roll down her face. She wobbled slightly as she backed up, and tried to speak, but her words were muffled by the gag that was still in her mouth.
He held a finger to his mouth as to tell her to be quiet. Then he raised his hands to show her nothing was in them and that he meant her no harm. He reached for the gag, but Mriana turned her face away from him.
"It's alright. I won't hurt you. I'm here to help you."
She fell back over a table, much like a coffee table and landed on the floor. The Cardassian slowly squatted down and again placed a finger over his mouth. He spoke to her again, but she still could not make out the words. Finally, she openned her mind and felt he meant her no harm.
He removed the gag from her mouth and then untied her hands. She watched him as much as she could as he did this, because she still had her reservations about him.
Then, he held a hand out to help her up from the floor. He mouthed more words at her, but still to no avail. Then he gave her the phaser of the Cardassian she knocked unconscious and gestured for her to come with her. She was very leery, but her empathic sense told her to not be so leery of this man. She had no idea why he was offering her aid, but she decided to take it.
"Whatever it takes to get back home." She thought to herself again and began to follow him.
Again she was in the corridor of the Cardassian ship as they sneaked their way to wherever he was taking her. They made it to another part of the ship and he took her into the room. It looked like a place to communicate and beam to some place, but she was not sure for the equipment looked very different from what she was use to seeing.
Suddenly, her new friend pushed her behind the station that looked something like a transporter personnel would stand behind. She landed with a thud, but was not harmed. Then she saw phaser fire and her friend fell to the deck.
She quickly grabbed the phaser he gave her and returned fire. She hit one of the four Cardassians before she was grazed on her arm. She tried hard to fight the pain she felt as she tried to hit at least two more of them.
"If you're going to rescue me, now would be a good time." She thought toward the Enterprise.
Geordi finally broke through the sheilds of the Cardassian ship. Worf and Geordi were about to transport over to the Cardassian ship, when Lwaxana screamed.
"She's been hit by a phaser!" She stated with horror.
"Geordi, Worf. Prepare for beam out!" Riker ordered trying to ignore Lwaxana's panic.
The two beamed onto the ship prepared to fire on whoever was firing as they beamed onto the Cardassain ship. As their figures took formed on the Cardassian ship, Deanna, on the Enterprise screamed with terrorfying pain and Lwaxana fainted.
"Deanna?" Will asked with concern.
Deanna was trying to recover her composer before she spoked. "I'm fine, but Mriana has been hit by a phaser."
"Bridge to Sickbay!" Will called over the comm system.
*Sickbay here.* Beverly's voice responded.
"Prepared for wounded and meet them in the transporter room."
*Aye, Sir.*
Worf downed the last two Cardassians. Then he bolted the door to the room shut with his phaser as quickly as he could.
Meanwhile, Geordi was checking Mriana's injuries. "Let's get you out of here." He signed.
"No!" Her voice came restrained and nasaled as she tried to controlled the volume of her voice. "Not without him."
She slowly pointed to the Cardassian who rescued her as best he could. "Mriana, we don't have time." Geordi began.
"He helped me and I can't leave him." She signed as she felt pain from her injuries. "They'll kill him. It's only fair I help him."
"OK." Geordi signed reluctantly. "Worf, help me get him out of here. She insists we help him."
"Why?" He said defensively.
"Explain later." Geordi replied, then tapped his combadge. "Enterprise. Four to beam over."
The four materialized onto the transporter pad of the Enterprise. Worf held the Cardassian over his shoulders and Mriana was bracing herself against Geordi for support.
Beverly ran quickly to check Mriana's injuries and saw they were not critical. Then she scanned Mriana's friend.
"This man is about to go into shock!" Beverly informed. "Help me get him to Sickbay, quickly."
Worf stepped off the transporter platform, carrying the man as instructed to Sickbay. Geordi slowly, but studily guided Mriana as they followed them to Sickbay.
Once inside Worf laid him on a biobed. Then he turned to Mriana. "Who is this Cardassian?"
Mriana looked at Geordi for assistance and he interpreted what Worf asked.
"He saved my life." She signed. "I have a feeling one of the fugitives maybe related to him."
"What is his name?" Worf growled.
Mriana shook her head. "He may have told me, but I couldn't read a single word off his lips. All I know is he wanted to help me for some reason and meant me no harm. Therefore, I couldn't leave him to die."
Worf growled. "It is good that you found a friend, but I and the captain are going to need more information on this man. I will post gaurd on him until we have that information."
"Is that really necessary, Worf?" She signed. Her sign for Worf was the three middle fingers in a form of a "w" making the bumps on the forehead.
"We know nothing about this man!"
"Hey!" Geordi began. "Mriana, slow down! I can't read."
Worf continues. "We can't leave him ungaurded. He is Cardassian! You couldn't have been sure."
"People!" Beverly shouted. Worf and Geordi looked at Beverly. Mriana noticed their gesture, stopped signing and turned towards Beverly. "I have sick patients here. Take this argument some where else!"
"She's right, Worf."
"Except for Mriana. I still need to treat her wounds."
"The Cardassian?" Worf inquired.
"I think I can handle him. He's unconscious, Worf. He's not going to do anything, I'm sure. Besides, Mriana is here and if he was helping her, I doubt he's going to cause us trouble."
Worf was not very happy about the doctor throwing him out, but he reluctantly turned and left. Geordi followed him out as Jean-Luc and Paula Sohn entered Sickbay.
"How is she, Doctor?" Jean-Luc inquired.
"She'll be fine."
"Who is he?"
"A friend of Mriana's. Seems he helped save her life." Beverly said with a lit in her voice.
"I'll need to question him when he awakes. Let me know when he does."
"Yes, Sir."
"In the meantime, when you finish treating Mriana's injuries, I need to speak with her in my Ready Room."
Paula Sohn informed Mriana of what the captain wanted. Beverly informed him she would make sure Mriana got there when she was ready. Picard left just as Mrs. Troi sashayed into Sickbay.
"I'm so glad to see you are back safely, Dear! Oh, to think those gods awful Cardassians were holding you hostage! Well, you're safe now and I'll have you back on Betazed before you know it. It will be for your own good. They didn't hurt you did they?" Lwaxana sent to Mriana.
"I'm staying on the Enterprise!" Mriana insisted loudly.
"Hold still. I can't repair your wounded mouth if you're going to talk." Beverly ordered and Paula signed to Mriana.
"I will not be forced back to Betazed all because I am deaf." Mriana sent insistantly.
"We'll see about that. Your mother will insist you return after this incident for your own safety and I agree."
"Well, you two can insist, but I'm staying here."
"Mrs. Troi, please. You're upsetting my patient. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
"Well, I never!" Lwaxana exclaimed.
"I can't work on her if she keeps looking at you and making all these faces."
"What? Is her mouth broken?"
"No, only fractured, but that doesn't mean you can upset her just yet. Now, please go and don't say another word to her, telepathically or other wise."
"Alright, I'll go, but I will be taking her home to Betazed as soon as we arrive there."
As Lwaxana walked out, Beverly sarcastically mumbled, "I'm sure you will."
"Doctor." Alyssa's voice addressed her. "He's coming around."
"Crusher to Bridge."
*Bridge here.* Came Will's voice.
"Mriana's friend is coming around."
*Thank you, Doctor Crusher. I'll let the captain know.*
"Crusher out."
It was not long until Picard arrived to Sickbay. Beverly escorted him over to the Cardassian.
"Hello. I'm Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Enterprise."
"I'm Lieutenant Targe. I guess I am of no ship now that I have assisted your crew member."
"We greatly appreciate that." The captain stated.
"You're welcome. Did by chance a man name Tarek arrive on your ship and request assylum?"
"Why do you ask?"
"He's my brother."
"Ah, yes. Mriana said she sensed something to that affect, but she did not know who it was."
Targe look sadden. Picard became concerned. "Are you alright, Lieutentant Targe?"
"I'm afraid if I am sent back to my ship, they will kill me. You see, to help, Mriana you said?"
"Yes."
"To help her, I lowered the shields when we arrived in our transporter room. If I return, they will kill me for helping a prisoner escape."
"Oh, so that's how Geordi had success in breaking through your shields."
"Yes, I sort of helped him also."
"Well, since you are Tarek's brother, I'm sure you would like to see how he is doing."
"Yes, and would it be possible for me to stay with him?"
"Are you requesting assylum also?"
"Yes. I am."
"I don't see why not." Picard replied. "I think since you helped rescue my crew member, it's only fair that you be granted assylum also."
"Thank you, Sir." Targe said. "I see why Mriana refused to leave me behind to die, now."
Picard smiled. "Oh, it has nothing to do with me. I assure you. That's a trait she comes by naturally."
"Well, I'm very greatful."
"I need to get back to the Bridge. I'll have Doctor Crusher see to it that you and your brother are reunited as soon as possible."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome." Picard turned to leave, but he stopped when he heard Beverly tell Mriana she was free to go. "Counselor, I want to see you in my Ready Room in thirty minutes."
She sensed his anger and lowered her head in shame. Then she answered him aloud. "Aye, Sir."
Chapter Sixteen
Picard had returned to the Bridge. "Sir, the Cardassians are hailing us." Boomed Worf's voice.
"On screen." Picard said as he approached the front of the Bridge.
"Well, Picard! Your precious crew member has successfully out smarted us. Now that you have her back, RELEASE THE FUGITIVES!" Taralak demanded loudly.
"We've given you our answer, Taralak. We will not go back on our word."
"Then you leave us no choice! Taralak out!"
The screen was quickly replaced by starry space. "Sir, the Cardassian ship is powering their weapons." Worf informed.
"Red alert! Shields up! Warp Six!" Will ordered.
A volley of phaser blasts hit the Enterprise.
"Shields at ninty-five percent and holding." Worf informed again.
"Fire phasers." Picard ordered. "Let's see if we can hit their weapons system."
"Aye Sir." Worf fired off a few phaser rounds.
"Status, Mr. Worf?"
"We've only knocked out their sensors and their shields are down to sixty percent. No injuries on board the Enterprise, but shields are now down to eighty percent since they last fired on us."
The Cardassians continued to fire phasers non-stop and the Enterprise shook with each blast. "I really hate to get rough." Picard thought to himself. Then he turned to Worf. "Try again to hit their weapons array."
"Aye, Sir." Worf tried once more and was successful this time. "Target hit and has been disabled. The Cardassians are now hailing us."
"On screen."
"Alright, Picard. You win, this time, but we will be back. Taralak out."
The Cardassian ship flew off like an injuried bird. Picard wondered if they would have both Tamalak and Taralak next time they meet to deal with or if this would be the last for a while of the Cardassians.
"I really hope so." He thought to himself. Then he turned to the con officer. "Ensign, set course for Starbase Ninty-three."
"Aye, Sir. Course laid in."
"Engage."
"Starbase Ninty-three, Sir?" Will questioned. "I thought we were on our way to Betazed?"
"Oh, we are, Number One, but we need to make a stop on our way to drop off our friends. I thought that would be the best starbase since it is on the way."
Will smiled. "Yes, it is a nice one."
"I'll be in my Ready Room, if anyone needs me." Picard stated. "Number One, you have the Bridge."
"Yes, Sir."
Picard suddenly stops and turns around. "Oh and when Counselor Mriana Troi arrives on the Bridge, send her right into my Ready Room."
"I'll do that."
Picard exited the Bridge and Will turns to Deanna. "Seems your cousin is in a heck of a lot of trouble."
"Well, if I know her, she'll charm her way out of some of it." Deanna replied with a smile.
"I don't think she is getting out of this one that easily. Remember, this is Captain Picard she is in trouble with."
Captain's Personal Log
Star date 46509.6
"Even though I am almost certain why Mriana Troi tried to leave the Enterprise, I still want to hear it from her. I can admire her determination, but now I am in the position of having to reprimand her. Not a task I relish doing with any of my crew members. Then there's the other violations I have to address with her and the Cardassian she brought aboard this ship. Not that I am upset about the last, but now we have eight Cardassians aboard. That is not something I like to experience every day, but these Cardassians are not your every day Cardassains."
The doors to his Ready Room slid open. "End Personal Log." He quickly finished and then gestured for Mriana to come into his Ready Room. "Oh, come in, Counselor."
Once she was inside, he did not offer her a seat. Rather, he changed gears and took on a tone of a father not happy with his daughter. "Mriana, I'd like to know why you deliberately disobeyed orders, took a shuttlecraft, left this ship without permission and tried to go back to Syrina?"
Paula Sohn interpreted everything Picard was saying. Mriana spoke aloud. "I. I wanted more answers."
"Answers to what? Doctor Crusher found the cause."
"You make that sound like "What more do I want!" Mriana signed. "I wanted more than just a cure. I wanted to know if the people we discovered on that planet were also infected and if so, why? If not, why? I also wanted to know, if they were infected, why they chose to stay and let further generations be infected."
"Even if that meant breaking the Prime Directive?"
"Sir?" She asked aloud.
"The Prime Directive. By trying to make contact with these people, who apparently aren't as technologically advance as we are, you would have gone against the Prime Directive."
"How so?" She signed.
"Mriana, I'm not going to argue the reasons with you. You know as well as I do, that we can not interfere with the lives of people who are not as advanced as us. Your trying to make contact with them would have shown them technology far more advanced than theirs."
"I think we have already done that, just by being there already." Mriana argued.
"That's why we can not go back and contaminate their way of life and their development any farther."
"Contaminate!" Mriana shouted. "I think their planet is already contaminated! How can we contaminate something that already is contaminated?"
Picard was confused and turned to Paula Sohn. "Mrs. Sohn, are you sure you interpreted what I said accurately?"
"Yes, Sir." She looked just as puzzled. "I am almost certain I did."
About this time, on the Bridge, Will asked Deanna how she felt things were going in the Ready Room. As much as he had his doubts about Mriana being in Starfleet, he still cared about her as if she were his sister-in-law.
Deanna sensing this just said, "It's not my policy to eaves drop on the goings on in his Ready Room, but I'll tell you this time. The captain was very angry, but now he is confused. I think there has been a communication mix up some how. Whatever the case, I don't believe he will relieve her of duty. I feel she is truly sorry for her actions. I don't think she will try and go AWOL again, but she is still determined to get answers."
"I don't understand."
"I'm sensing the same dire need to return to the planet as the rest of the away team, but she's trying to fight it. I think Doctor Crusher's theory is correct."
Will sighed. "We have problems."
Back in Picard's Ready Room the confusion was straightened out and he continues. "Not only did you disobey orders and nearly broke the Prime Directive, you left during a Red Alert. I know you had to have seen the red claxon."
"Yes, Sir." She admitted.
"And you continued to ignore it?"
"I did not sense any danger at the time." She replied.
"Well, you are very lucky to be alive. Do you know what those Cardassians can do to a person. They torture until the life is almost snapped out of a person. Until a person has no more will. Until the reality that once was is no more. Then they torture you some more, and if you're lucky, you'll either be rescued or die. Mriana, I'm not just saying this as your captain. I'm saying this because I care about you." He stopped and looked a Mrs. Sohn. He wanted to add like a daughter, but he felt with the company of an interpreter, word could still get out about how he felt about his crew. So he paused to collect his thoughts.
"I have sensed that, Sir."
"Good!" He said, trying to recover his composure. "Then I don't need to say anymore about the matter. Since you never did get the chance to violate the Prime Directive, the offer to be Ship's Counselor for the Deaf still stands. If you want it, that is."
"Thank you, Sir." She signed. "I appreciate the offer, but I was thinking about returning to Betazed to become a delegate."
"What has made you decide to leave?" Picard asked puzzled.
"I don't feel I am capable of being a Starfleet officer. In case you haven't noticed, I am deaf. I can't hear the enemy to save my life."
"Mriana, I realize the loss of your hearing presents new difficulties, but we will just have to adjust to it. There are other things you can do. I would not dream of putting you in such situations where you would have to know where your enemy is at all times."
"Still, people are deceptive and if things appeared to be friendly then turn out dangerous, I'm in trouble."
Picard sighed. "Mriana, there are other types of away missions. If I were to assign you to one, it would not in anyway involve you being in anymore danger than you being a Betazoid Delegate."
Mriana was begining to look thoughtful as she watched Paula Sohn sign what Picard was saying.
"You have heard of Riva, haven't you?" Picard asked.
"I think so."
"He did a lot of peace negotiation. That in itself could be very dangerous if you could not hear your enemy. Even so, he did not quit when he lost his "chorus" as he called his group of interpreters. He went on to do some very good peacemaking. He eventually got a new chorus, but he never stopped being a peacemaker, even if the situation was dangerous."
She was still considering Picard's words. "Mriana, do you trust me?"
She looked at him stunned. She could not believe he asked such a question. "Y, yes." She said aloud.
"Do you trust Commander Riker and Counselor Troi?"
"Of course. They're family."
"What about Worf and Mr. LaForge?"
"Impeccably."
"And Mr. Data?"
"Without a doubt."
"Then do you really believe that if an away mission, that was thought to be peaceful, turned arry, that any of the senior staff would allow you to be killed in the process? And Geordi?" She suddenly looked directly at him in surprise. "Oh, yes. I know about Geordi. Don't you believe that man would do anything for you? That he would not let anything happen to you, if he could prevent it? Do you think that any of the Senior crew would not try to warn you of dangers you could not hear? Do you really believe they would just save their own skins and not your's in the process also, if they could?"
"No Sir. I believe they would. We look after each other on any away mission. That's just the way it is."
"Then why not stay and try to perform your duties just as before, only with a few modifications?"
"Well." She paused. "I guess I could give it a try."
"Are you accepting the position?"
She straightened her posture before she replied aloud. "Yes, Sir."
Picard smiled. "I'm glad to hear that, Counselor. However." He continued, loosing his smile. "There will be a reprimand on your record and from reading your record, this is not the first one in your career with Starfleet."
"No, Sir." She replied.
"You were doing well on my ship until now. You've been here three years and this is your first reprimand since then. I hope it will also be the last. Is that understood?"
She nodded. "Yes, Sir. With Deanna being my superior officer, it will most likely be the last. Family can be more critical than others. I'm sure I will be hearing from her also."
"I'm sure you will and let's hope this is your last reprimand on my ship."
Jean-Luc never really saw Mriana Troi as Starfleet material, either. Because of that, he had what would seem to most people, a father-daughter like relationship with her. He felt the reason why she made it this far was because she was not a regular officer. She was in a new field that Starfleet just recently deemed necessary. They did not consider it an usual military position, so she would not be assigned to combat duties. Only medical duties. Therefore, he figured, maybe that's why she got by. That and the fact she was dedicated to psychology and people. She had no other ambition but to help others and to be the best counselor in Starfleet. She cared less about her rank and Picard knew it. Rank meant nothing to her, except for the fact that some ranks were entitled to more respect.
"Well." He began as his thoughts returned the situation before him. "I'm glad you are staying aboard with us and that you are not letting your loss keep you from continuing your career with Starfleet."
"Thank you for your encouragement, Sir. I plan on doing my best."
"I'm sure you will. Dismissed."
As he watched her depart his thoughts returned to Mriana's character. All she wanted was to have a relaxed environment for an office, so that her patients would feel more comfortable confiding in her. Except for when she had Bridge duty, formal situations, and of course the captain himself, she generally used people's first names. They, in return, were just as informal with her. Even Picard, unless protocal said differently, called her Mriana. Never Troi, like her cousin. Which was also convenent, for it saved on confusion.
Before Mriana lost her hearing, he sometimes felt he was talking to a young Lwaxana Troi. Only not so larger than life, like her aunt was. She always stayed within her social standing. Sometimes it made it difficult to believe Deanna was the daughter and Mriana was the niece, but lately, since her loss, her high spiritedness was almost gone. At times he thought he missed that part of her personality. The only thing that showed it was still there was this latest incident.
"Maybe within time." He thought to himself. "It will return. Then I'll wish it had not. Although, sometimes I rather enjoyed it." He smiled at the last as he thought about some of the antics she pulled from time to time. None of them called for a reprimand though.
He thought some of it was due to Deanna, Will and Geordi's influence. They seemed to have helped to keep her reigned in a little. He still enjoyed it, sometimes, when it cut loose though.
Picard sat back down in his Ready Room chair to return to his personal log and record his current thoughts. He was hoping that Mriana would adjust and stay aboard the Enterprise. He knew deep down, that if she returned to Betazed, all the self-confidence she once had would be lost forever. Her aunt and mother would completely take over her life and justify it because of her hearing loss. They would never again let her do anything alone and make sure there was always someone with her to be her ears. He also knew, Mriana would never speak again, if Lwaxana and Breanna had their way.
"Let's just hope they never do." He thought to himself. "Or she will never be her own viberant person she once was, ever again."
He closed his personal log and returned to the Bridge. As he did, he wondered what the future held for Mriana Troi.