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FRIENDLY PERSUASION
Commander William T. Riker of the Starship Enterprise smirked to himself as he contemplated what he was going to say to his captain when it was time to fill him in on the society they were about to make contact with. Somehow, he didn't think that Picard would like it... and he knew two women who would feel the same.
"So, Number One?" asked Picard, walking into the Observation Lounge where Riker had been standing. "How long until we reach orbit?"
"94 minutes," replied Riker. "The planetary spokesperson said they'll be glad to meet you."
"Me?"
"Yeah."
Picard looked surprised, but didn't ask any more questions until the rest of the command crew had arrived and seated themselves around the table.
When they had, Picard began. "As you know, we're required to go down and meet the heads of this world. The Federation would very much like to be on friendly terms with them, and although this isn't a disputed system, I agree that openness about us and our ways is best." Picard looked at Riker, who
continued.
"As this is a rather authoritarian society, they won't accept anyone other than the captain."
"Understandable," replied Picard.
"There is a rather... inconvenient condition," Riker went on, trying to look upset at it, but not doing well. Deanna, sitting directly opposite, felt his amusement. "Well, Commander?" she said.
"Data, if you will."
Data took up the lecture. "This society appears to be male-dominated, but with a stress on the value of women. Women appear to outnumber men three to one, and pollution appears to have rendered some women incapable of bearing children." Data waited for someone to ask something, but no one did, so he
continued. "If a man's wife cannot bear a child, he takes a concubine. This is the standard practice, and it would seem that men take concubines even when their wives are able to bear children."
"Commander, please come to the point." Picard was losing patience. What was the condition for going down?
"Yes, Sir. We already know they are willing to speak tp us. However, my analysis has revealed that they will be unlikely to accept what we say unless we can demonstrate how like them we are."
"Which means?"
"I believe it will be necessary for you to take a 'wife' and 'concubine' to the surface," said Data. Riker smirked openly now, as Picard's face took on a rather reddish tinge. "What?" he asked.
"As the captain, they will expect you to bring an entourage. I believe they will accept me without a wife or concubine because I am artificial, but you will have to adhere to their beliefs."
"Mister Data, I don't like this at all. It's dishonest. How can we expect them to trust us if we deceive them?"
"Trust may come after, Sir. I believe that if you beam down alone, they will interpret it as a sign of how different we are."
"Commander Riker?" Picard asked, looking at Will. "I assume you agree with this?"
"Yes, Sir." Riker wasn't succeeding in keeping his face straight.
"Very well. Are there any special clothes we should wear?"
"Yes. The Starfleet uniform will be appropriate for you, but I believe that whoever you take down will need to wear clothes which the aliens will recognise as denoting their status in your entourage."
"Mister Data..." Picard said, with a warning in his voice. Give me the bottom line, it meant.
"Yes, Sir. I have replicated clothing which, I believe, will suffice."
"Good." Picard stood up, pulled his jacket straight, and looked at the three women sitting around the table. Ro Laren gave him a look as if to say, "Take me and you'll be sorry." Beverly and Deanna just waited calmly for him to decide the obvious. "Very well. Counselor, Doctor. I will leave you to
decide who wears what. I will meet you in Transporter Room 3 in fifteen minutes."
***
When Picard walked in he found the women dressed as he'd ordered. Beverly Crusher was wearing a royal blue dress and had her hair tied behind her head with a blue ribbon. Deanna Troi was wearing a pink dress, and her hair was tied back with a pink scarf. For Picard, it was impossible to tell who was
supposed to be what. Data was already standing in place on the platform.
"Well?" asked Picard when he realised the women were NOT going to make it easy for him.
"Blue is for the wife," said Deanna. "Pink for the concubine."
"And how did you decide?" Picard asked.
"Replicated a coin and flipped it," answered Beverly. Her tone made it impossible for the captain to tell if she was joking.
Picard stepped into place on the platform. "Very well, Ensign, energise."
The four of them dematerialised.
***
They rematerialised in the Great Hall of the government's Premier Building, to find a delegation waiting for them. The man in front, wearing the most ostentatious outfit, stepped forward. "Captain Picard?"
Picard stepped forward as well. "I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation Starship Enterprise."
"I am President Chute'. Welcome to Tenogol."
"Thank you. May I present Lieutenant Commander Data, my second officer, and - " Picard swallowed hard, " - my wife, Beverly. My - " Another swallow, "concubine, Deanna Troi."
"My pleasure."
"Well, President, where shall we begin?" Picard was eager to get the whole visit over with as soon as possible.
"You will be our guests this night, and tomorrow we will discuss relations between our peoples."
"Er..." Picard looked at Deanna, who shook her head ever so slightly. She didn't know anything significant. So Picard smiled at Chute'. "Thank you for your hospitality."
Chute' beckoned a guide, who showed Picard and company to a set of rooms. "Captain, I hope this room will suffice for you and your women," he said, then turned to Data. "I hope this room here - " He indicated the room next to the one in which Picard, Beverly and Deanna were supposed to sleep, "will be
satisfactory for you, Lieutenant Commander."
"Since I am an android, I do not require many comforts," replied Data. "I am sure it will be satisfactory."
"Excellent. Please feel free to walk in our gardens outside. Your quarters have doors leading out."
"Thank you," said Picard.
"Then I bid you good day."
Picard, Beverly and Deanna walked into the room the guide had shown them, while Data went into his room.
There was only one bed in the room, large enough for three people, they all realised at once. Beverly was now the one smirking. "Jean-Luc - "
But Picard put a finger to his lips, indicating that they should check the room for listening devices. Deanna took a tricorder from a pocket in her dress and scanned the room. "Nothing."
Beverly began to laugh. "Don't you find this funny, Jean-Luc?"
"No I do not!" said Picard emphatically, and Deanna started to laugh as well. "You have to admit, it is a little bit... strange," she said.
"Yes, well... what did you sense, Counselor?"
Troi shook her head. "Nothing of importance. They all seemed open and honest. They do want to have diplomatic relations with us."
Picard pressed his communicator. "Mister Data?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Do you have any observations?"
"None at the moment. However, I do believe that they are keeping us waiting for a reason. Perhaps to see how patient we are."
"Counselor?" asked Picard.
"I'd agree with that."
"Doctor?"
"Maybe. Now that they've met us, maybe they just want to discuss what they're going to do with us tomorrow."
"Agreed," said Picard. "Shall we take a walk?"
"It couldn't hurt," said Beverly.
The three of them joined Data outside in what the guide had said was the garden. 'Garden' was in fact an understatement, for the grounds went on and on, with large green lawns, a huge variety of flora in special patches all over, and a cluster of trees on one side. "It appears to have been designed for ornamental purposes, Captain," said Data.
They walked towards the trees, and suddenly Deanna stopped. "There's someone there."
"Where?"
"Hiding. By the trees. A woman. She's very frightened."
Without thinking, Picard rushed closer to the trees, forcing Crusher, Troi and Data to follow. Knowing that there was someone there made it much easier to find her, and find her they did, kneeling on the ground behind a very large, fir-like tree. She was wearing a pink dress and scarf.
"Are you all right?" Picard asked, but the woman said nothing. The captain looked at Troi. "Counselor."
Deanna kneeled down next to the woman. "Can we help you?"
The woman turned frightened eyes on Deanna, then looked at the others. Beverly turned and whispered, "I think she'll talk if we're out of the way."
Picard nodded, and they walked back into the open.
"What's wrong?" Deanna asked the woman.
"You... they treat you like an equal."
"I'm sorry?"
"You're just a concubine like me. You have no rights, no privileges, but they treat you well."
"Er... yes. We're from another planet."
"Oh, the people from the Starship. Yet you are like us. You also have concubines."
"It's necessary."
"Not for me, but they took me away and said I had to do it. I won't go back! I won't!" And the woman got up and rushed out of the trees, running headlong into Picard, who turned at the commotion. Picard bent and, as he helped the woman up, they heard a shout from the main door of the building.
"Stop!"
The president was coming towards them with what seemed like an army of guards. They said nothing, merely grabbed Picard, who protested, "What is the meaning of this?"
"We do want to be on good terms with your Federation, but this proves you are not like us after all."
The Enterprise officers were understandably confused. "What?"
"You touched her." Chute' gestured towards the terrified concubine. "No man may touch another's concubine. Were you truly like us, you would know this. I would even say that this woman - " He pointed to Crusher - "is not really your wife, and this one - " Deanna - "is not your concubine. You were attempting to deceive us. And for that, you will die, even if it means your Federation will take revenge."
The guards dragged Picard off, even as he attempted to issue orders to cover ther situation.
Data now stepped forward. "Sir, I can assure you that this is unnecessary."
"Go back to your rooms. We will call for you when it is time to talk."
"But - " protested Beverly, but she didn't get a chance to say anything as the president strode off, and the guards gestured that they should do as they had been told.
***
"Will, we'll have to admit that our ways are substantially different. If they know that, maybe they'll let Jean-Luc go!" Beverly told Riker over their communicators.
"Look, Beverly, I sympathise, but our intelligence shows that they won't accept people who are as different as we are."
"Some intelligence," Crusher snorted. "They missed a point like don't touch any of the women."
"They contacted us, remember. We didn't have time to make detailed studies. I guess we now know that they're very suspicious."
"And something else..." mused Deanna. "I didn't feel it before. They're frightened of us."
"Frightened?" asked both Riker and Crusher at once.
"Now that they've seen our technology, or some of it, they know we're much more advanced than they are. I think this is their way of gaining some control over the situation."
"You call kidnapping our captain gaining control?" Beverly asked, her voice a little on the high side.
"Yes. Will, what are we going to do?"
Data cut in from his quarters. "The files indicate that the wife is usually in the best position to ask for leniency, or anything else. I would suggest the doctor go and talk to the president."
There was a brief silence, as though Riker were thinking it over. Finally he sighed, "Okay. Beverly, you'll go and ask them to let Captain Picard go. Explain that we're not as possessive of our concubines or something."
"Okay."
"Take Deanna with you."
"I don't think - "
Data cut in again. "It might lend weight to your explanantion, Doctor, if both the wife and concubine seem concerned for the captain."
"All right." Beverly sighed deeply and turned to Deanna. "Should have made you the wife."
Deanna only smiled.
***
The president looked at the pair across his desk. "Mrs...?"
"Doctor. Crusher. We... keep our names, and I am a doctor." She said it in the hope of convincing Chute' that their differences were small, and not really significant.
"Doctor Crusher. I believe you have tried to deceive us from the minute we contacted you. I do not think you are really Captain Picard's wife, and Deanna here is not really a concubine."
Troi stepped forward, knowing that perhaps it was out of place for a concubine to speak, but since the man already thought they were pretending, what could it hurt? "Mister President, what can we say to convince you?"
"I will accept only one measure of proof."
"And that is?"
"You say you are his concubine. I am asking you to prove it in the only way we know how."
Troi just looked at him.
"You will have to mate with him."
"Excuse me?" asked Beverly.
The president didn't look at all repentant. "That is what concubines are for, Doctor."
"No!" shouted Beverly. "I mean, she can't, can you, Deanna?"
"No, I..." Deanna looked at Beverly in panic. What could they say that would be convincing? She could only think of two things, one of which was, "I am... pregnant." She hoped they wouldn't get it into their heads to check.
"What?" asked the president.
"We have certain... taboos, Mister President, just as you do," Beverly explained, mentally crossing her fingers. "This is one of them."
"Well, then I am afraid you will have to prove you are his wife in the same way."
The women looked at each other, officer to officer, friend to friend. If they were going to save Picard and, by extension, any hope of diplomatic relations with these people, they would have to agree sometime. "Very well," replied Beverly.
"Good. I will have the captain brought to your room." He started towards his intercom. "And Doctor, I hope this isn't a deception."
Crusher shook her head, and Deanna looked away. The things they did for the Federation!
***
"Beverly, are you sure you want to do this? Maybe if we have to resort to such tactics to keep up relations with any planet, both our societies aren't ready for it."
Beverly sighed. "I don't know, Deanna. They're ready to kill him. I can't allow that."
"Something tells me you agreed a bit too readily, you know," the empath told her, with an amused glint in her eye.
"You're being empathic again. Don't do that around me."
"I know how you feel about the captain, and sometimes..."
She trailed off, prompting Crusher to ask, "What?!" in a slightly hysterical tone.
"I don't know if this violates... maybe I shouldn't tell you, but... it might make your job easier. Sometimes I feel things from the captain. About you. He does care for you."
"Well, let's hope he does, because if he doesn't I don't think any amount of Klingon aphrodisiac will work!" Beverly laughed, trying to lighten the situation.
"You're not going to give him... Oh, Beverly!" Deanna dissolved in laughter, and Beverly hoped that in the world of Federation politics this was the right hand to play.
***
When Picard came into the room, Beverly was alone. Deanna had respectfully asked if she could leave the room as people in her "condition" were to remain pure and untouched by all that was of the flesh. The president had reluctantly agreed, but the only thing Deanna had on her mind was Riker and the fact that
he'd never let her live this down.
The guards were to be stationed outside, and were to monitor the proceedings every five minutes with a "viewer", a device which allowed them to look through the wall.
No one had said anything to Picard, and Crusher knew she could not say anything to him either while there was a chance of someone overhearing. She also knew that Picard was more than likely to refuse if he knew what the president wanted from them. So she prepared a sedative-type drug, which she
poured into the drink she had set out for the captain. The drug was actually to be used on Klingons as it behaved like a sedative on their physiology. But on humans... well, there was a reason it was nicknamed the "Klingon aphrodisiac"! The doctor knew it also had numerous side-effects when used on humans, but this was an emergency and it was the only thing she had available.
"Beverly, what is going on? First they threaten me with death, then they say they'll accept proof that we are what we say we are. Then they bring me here."
"This is part of the proof that I'm who I say I am - your wife. They'll be monitoring us, so..." She broke off, picked up the glasses. "Let's have a drink and show them."
Picard looked at the drink, shrugged as if to say, "This can't hurt," and drank it.
Beverly drank hers, too, then said, "Come, Jean-Luc, let's sit down and talk for a while."
They sat, Picard wondering just what this 'proof' was that the Tenogolians wanted.
"Did they tell you why they had taken you?" Crusher asked.
"They repeated what Chute' had told me. If I really was what we said, I would not have touched that woman. But she had fallen..." he trailed off, the rest being obvious.
"We all have different taboos, Jean-Luc. For instance, on Earth long ago, did you know..." Beverly began to ramble on about taboos in ancient cultures as she waited for the drug to take effect. It didn't take long, being suited to Klingon physiology, and not human... and the doctor had also given Picard
more than the recommended dose!
***
Picard began to feel light-headed... as if Beverly's voice were drifting away from him. Strange that he could still hear every word. Then he felt as though he wasn't really sitting there, as if his body were run by remote-control... and his mind was up in the clouds, or above the atmosphere.
So when Beverly leaned forward and kissed him, he didn't pull away. Instead, he kissed her back... saw himself lean over and kiss her... knew himself to be enjoying kissing her, but feeling as though he were a ghost, only his body hadn't been told.
He saw Beverly lean next to him and whisper something in his ear... he wasn't sure he knew what it was, but he got up and walked with her over to the bed. He watched himself remove Beverly's strange blue dress, and felt, yet did not feel, her remove his uniform. He tried to focus, but couldn't seem to
reconnect with himself.
Then he was kissing her all over, and she was kissing him, and something in him asked how this had come to be... and something told him he knew. He saw himself looking down at Beverly, and noticed they were both naked... yet he didn't remember seeing or feeling them removing any underclothes...
He saw Crusher's arms beckoning him... and he responded...
And then he was fully aware of everything, aware enough to know that it was far too late to change his mind. "Beverly?" he asked in confusion, the first word he had said to her.
"Wh... what?"
But all at once the gallant captain of the Enterprise was at a complete and total loss for words, surrounded on all sides it seemed by the touch, taste, smell, sound and sight of this glorious, luminous woman lying here with him... and wonderful it was.
***
The president finally looked with more favourable eyes on Deanna Troi. "I am informed that you have been telling the truth all along," he said to her, walking to the alcove where the Betazoid had been made to wait. Deanna's mind converted that sentence to herself: 'Beverly did it.'
"Mister President, we told you there was no need for any of this."
"So you did. Tell me, if you are his concubine, do you have any other children?"
Deanna was taken aback by the question, so she said the first thing that came into her head. "Doctor Crusher has a son, Wesley."
"And this is your first child?"
"Second. I bore a child... five years ago... but he died."
"I am sorry. I hope this will be different."
"Thank you. So do I." Why was the man stalling, if it was all over?
"I think we do have a lot in common with the people of your Federation. I will contact the ship immediately." Chute' began to turn away, but Troi stopped him by asking, "And the captain and the doctor?"
"You will be reunited on board the ship. I will have them... er, 'transported' back. Commander Data has already returned."
"Thank you," said Deanna, not moving.
Then the president looked back at her. "What are you waiting for? I heard it said you could communicate with your ship easily."
So that was it. Testing their suspicions. "Sir," replied Deanna, "I would not do so without the captain's consent."
"You have mine."
It seemed to be enough. Deanna pressed her communicator, confirming Chute's suspicions that those pins were more than jewelry.
"Troi to Enterprise. One to beam up." She dematerialised.
***
Beverly stood at the door as the president arrived. "Well, doctor?"
"I'm afraid we have... a little problem."
"Which is?"
"Jean-Luc is unconscious."
"Why?"
"I think it's a recurrence of..." Beverly thought fast; she knew exactly why the captain was unconscious... "A rare condition he has. Don't worry, it's not contagious. But I will need to get him back to the ship."
Chute' felt he had made one mistake already, and he wasn't ready to make another by contradicting this man's wife who was, after all, a doctor. "Very well. I will speak with your Commander Riker when you have gone."
"Crusher to Enterprise. Two to beam directly to Sickbay."
Chute' watched them disappear. They WERE alike, but if he were to count the tiny differences he'd noted in them since that dreadful business out in the garden, he was sure there'd be quite a tally. Time to consult with his ministers.
***
"What is it?" Riker asked irritably. He was still angry over the president informing him about Picard's predicament, and having been told not to interfere. He'd obeyed the Prime Directive, but he was still seething.
"Side-effect of the drug," said Beverly, pressing a hypospray against Picard's neck. "I gave him a bit too much."
"By the look of the captain, doctor, you gave him a lot too much."
"Will, don't snap at me. Jean-Luc would have let them kill him before he'd have abandoned his mission, and he would never have agreed to what Chute' asked."
"So you gave him a little friendly persuasion, is that it?" Riker began to see the funny side.
"Exactly," replied Beverly.
"Well," said Riker, smiling, "I'd hate to be in your shoes when he wakes up. When will that be, by the way?"
"Soon, I should think."
"Good, keep me informed. I have to go and inform Starfleet that Tenogol has changed its mind about diplomatic relations."
"What?" Suddenly Beverly felt that all her... her hard work, had been for nothing. "They changed their minds?"
"Yep. Said that outer similarities weren't enough. They actually told me that they want to wait until our differences don't scare them."
"They said that? A remarkable attitude for a people who wanted to kill our captain for touching the wrong woman."
Deanna had come in during the last part of the exchange, and now she answered. "They're a very dichotomous people. Enlightened on the one hand, restrictive on the other. Despite what they say, I think their laws oppress women. The concubine I spoke to didn't want to be one, and she was surprised that I should have been accorded such respect by my people."
"I wonder how different things would be if we didn't have the Prime Directive?" mused Beverly.
"Considering how many times the captains of starships violate it, I doubt that things would be different!" laughed Deanna, and Will and Beverly joined in.
"Still," said Riker, serious again, "I suppose we can't help but wonder what it would be like if we could do something to help people on planets like this."
And then they heard, "Number One?" Picard was awake!
Riker went over to the biobed and whispered, "Captain?"
"Am I on the Enterprise?"
"Yes, Sir. You're in Sickbay."
"Why?"
Riker looked at Crusher and Troi over Picard's head and both women shrugged, so he replied, "You're recovering from an overdose of a Klingon sedative."
Picard began to get up, helped by his first officer. "What happened?"
Knowing full well that Picard wasn't really asking about the mission, Will answered him that way anyway. "The president said it would be best to wait until our differences don't scare them. They don't want diplomatic relations at this time."
"Why not?"
"We're just too different, and they can't handle that. Yet. Considering how upset they got when you touched that concubine, I'm not surprised. I think they'll wait until they know that things like that are not meant to insult them, but an indication that people are not alike all over."
"Hmmm." The captain got off the biobed, which was when Crusher and Deanna caught his eye. Picard merely glanced at them, and walked out.
He went straight to his quarters where he put on some music and collapsed into his chair. He seemed to remember... what had happened on the planet? A Klingon sedative? Most Klingon sedatives behaved like... Picard stood bolt upright again when he realised what Riker had said. So it had not been a dream.
The door chime sounded. "Come," he said, and Doctor Beverly Crusher walked in the door.
"Are you feeling well enough to be here?" she asked.
"I'm fine, Doctor."
"Good." He paced to the other end of the room. "Now, Doctor, perhaps you would like to tell me just what you thought you were doing down on the planet?"
Beverly shrugged. "They threatened to kill you, and to break off any diplomatic ties. They wanted proof that we were like you, that you did have a wife and a concubine, and they told me what the proof had to be, so I..."
"You gave me one of those Klingon drugs that behaves like an aphrodisiac on the human system."
"Well, yes." Beverly looked away, then back. "Jean-Luc, they were going to kill you!"
"Why didn't you let them?" Picard almost yelled at her.
"Why didn't I let them? This is a joke, right? I'm a doctor. I took a solemn oath to save lives. And I wouldn't let them take yours if I could possibly prevent it."
"Do you know how this makes me feel?" Picard asked, for once actually talking about his feelings. "To know that you had to... to... sacrifice yourself like that?"
Beverly smiled suddenly. "Well, it was a dirty job, but somebody had to do it!"
Picard didn't find it funny. Instead, he scowled at the doctor.
"Look, captain, it wasn't a sacrifice, I promise you."
When he still didn't say anything, Crusher sighed deeply and went on. "I wanted to do that. I wanted to be with you, and at that moment I didn't care where we were, and how many people were watching. I thought it would be my only chance to have the intimacy with you I'd always craved."
This came as a surprise. "What are you saying?"
"Do I have to draw you a picture, Jean-Luc? I wanted you, to have you love me, since I met you."
This surprised Picard and yet did not surprise him. "Really?" He took a step closer to her.
Beverly ran a hand through her hair. "Yes, really."
"Do you..." Picard paused, wondering how to say it. "Do you know that I can't really remember?"
She sighed. "Yes. That's one of the side-effects. But at the time, I wasn't concerned with your remembering. I was concerned with getting you to make love with me so we could get off the planet."
It was now Picard's turn to sigh. "Thank you." It was his admission that she had played the right hand. Made the right call.
Beverly stepped forward and hugged him. Tightly. "You're welcome, Jean-Luc."
And Picard realised that perhaps the Klingon sedative had been unnecessary, or at least overkill. He wished he could remember. He wanted to. So he said as much.
Beverly stepped back and looked at him. "What exactly are you saying, Jean-Luc?"
"Make some new memories with me?"
"Some new..." Her eyes took on a sparkle. "You think you're up to it?"
He grinned - a rare occurrence for Jean-Luc Picard, starship commander. "Absolutely."
"Okay!" Beverly rushed forward and hugged him so violently that they lost their balance and toppled over. Luckily Picard's reclining chair was there to catch them.
What memories that chair would evoke in the future!
THE END