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Blind Chess	By : madradena Category: Star Trek > The Next Generation Views: 1334 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I do not own ST:TNG, nor the characters. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Data entered the building of the residence with such momentum, that the entrance door almost swung out of its hinges. He stopped short when the others surrounded him.
"What happened, Commander?" the Admiral asked him seemingly irritated.
He let out an exasperated breath "I wish I knew, Admiral. She left. I could not stop her, she got into an automobil. A taxicab. It is a type of vehicle used for transportation of passengers..."
"I know what a taxicab is!" the Admiral cut in shouting "Why did she leave?! Where was she going?!"
Data shook his head and looked at Beverly as if he was asking for help "She never told me, where she was going. As to why she left..." he bowed his head ashamed "We had... a quarrel... of a personal nature." he confessed finally.
The Admiral's eyes blazed hearing this "Personal nature? PERSONAL nature?!" he asked apparently getting more and more infuriated with ever word he uttered "Has everybody forgotten that they're Starfleet officers here?!" he blew up seemingly losing all of his self-restraints, and stepping close to Data, he started shouting into his frightened face "You're here on a mission Commander! Have you forgotten it?! You're here on this mission only because of MY leniency, and you're abusing that by committing the exact same mistake you were court martialed for in the first place!"
"Admiral, please..." the Captain tried to interrupt his tirade, but it seemed it just fueled his anger.
"Silence!" the old man ordered him, and every one of them stood there taken aback and quite intimidated by the small, frail man as he went on shouting with Data "On a mission, there's NO personal quarrel, NO personal feelings, NO preferences, NOTHING! Only your duty! If you're not able to wrap that positronic mind of yours around that, I won't give a damn about what Ms. Jones will say to it, I'll relieve you of duty and send you back to the Enterprise, right into the brig for insubordination! Did I make myself clear, Lieutenant Commander?!"
"Crystal clear, Sir." Data replied on a very small voice. And to the complete shock of everybody, bowing his head, he wiped unshed tears from his eyes.
Beverly swallowed hard seeing that: it was difficult enough to endure being shouted at as a grown-up, but he WAS pretty much a child in a lot of respect still - and she was sure he'd never been shouted at by a figure of authority ever in his life before, but surely not ever since he'd had emotions. It must have been a devastating experience. Especially, in front of everybody - even his mother. She looked over at Juliana who stood there shaken, but just as helpless as they all were.
The Admiral went on glaring at him hostilely "Don't think that tears will break my heart! You're no schoolboy..."
That was the moment when Picard gently pushed Data back by the arm and stood opposite the Admiral "That will be quite enough, Admiral!" he told him on a low, hard voice locking his gaze with the old man's.
"Picard! What do you think you're..." the Admiral started, but the Captain cut him off.
"Mr. Data here understood your point, Sir. Moreover, his hearing is better than any of ours, therefore, shouting is not only unnecessary but also contra-productive. Mr. Data is under my command, just as every member of the Enterprise crew. Therefore the responsibility over his actions is mine, and mine alone." he was not too happy to confront his superior in front of their subordinates, but it seemed he had no choice. He couldn't let this continue, he just couldn't.
The ice-cold eyes of the Admiral blazed with fury, but before he could blow up again, they all heard Data's silent voice.
"It is alright, Captain! The Admiral is right." everybody gazed at him stunned and confused "I made a mistake. I am sorry about it. However, I would like to remedy the situation. Thank you, Captain Picard for standing up on my behalf, however I am also willing to take full responsibility for whatever happened tonight as well as any future consequences Lieutenant Jones' running away may have."
They all gazed at him speechless. The Admiral suddenly seemed to become very embarrassed, which he tried to hide by setting his chin high and gazing straight into Data's eyes "Let us not discuss the matter of responsibility, now, shall we? There will be plenty of time for that once we found her." he gave a hard look to the Captain to make him understand he was in for trouble...
Picard ignored him and looked at Data "Data, do you have any idea where she might have gone? Did she mention any place she'd go to, if she needed accommodation? A friend perhaps whom she could visit?"
Data shook his head with a heavy heart "I do not believe she'd be going to any such place."
"Why is that, Data?" Beverly asked speaking on a lot more silent voice than she intended.
"Before she ran away, I talked to her husband. He spoke of her past on Epsilon Four. A past she'd been reluctant to share with me. Once she realized what we'd been talking about, she got very upset with her spouse... I believe she would be going now to HIM. To settle their differences." he explained trying to sound as professional as he could, but his voice was silent and had a heart-breakingly rueful edge to it.
The Admiral growled in annoyance "To settle their differences! Knowing her, she'd rather just make matters worse!"
"Admiral." Picard spoke up "Since you know the Premier the most, and your relation to him is the most informal, it might be wise, if YOU could talk to him. If Ms. Jones didn't go there, her husband might take the news of her going missing easier from somebody he knows than from any of us."
The old man grimaced irritated "I was just about to suggest that I'd contact him." he told them with a patronizing look "Make yourself useful, until I'm done, and figure something out, Picard!" he spat and then left them alone. The Captain let out a long breath looking after him.
"I'll check around in her room." Beverly offered "Maybe I could find something useful that would give us a clue."
"Good idea, Beverly." Picard complemented turning his head to her.
"I'll help you, Doctor." Data offered, and going through the corridors, he voiced another idea he had "We might also try to have the Enterprise locate her combadge. She might have it with her. Though the chances for that are low."
"Right!" Beverly nodded as they stepped into Emma's dark room. They stood there a moment longer before it dawned on them that the lights would not come up automatically. Data turned to the wall beside the door and turned on the lights. Beverly had to blink for a few seconds before her eyes became used to the bright light. By that time, Data was already pulling out one of Emma's drawers and checked around in it - he threw his jacket carelessly on her bed.
Beverly fetched her combadge as Picard and Juliana appeared in the doorway - not having anything better to do, they wanted to help.
Juliana walked over to the bed and took Data's jacket into her hands gently. She frowned as she now noticed how dirty it was, even more so when she saw that it was also torn at places. She looked over at him and noticed that his face was dirty too, just as his other clothes. She stepped over to him and put a concerned hand on his arm, where he was looking through Emma's stuff. He looked at her surprised by the touch - almost alarmed - and with a hint of irritation over the distraction.
"Yes, Mother."
"What happened to you? Your clothes are all dirty, and you too..." she reached out with a gentle hand and tried to wipe the dirt from his face.
"Don't be concerned, Mother." he told him taking her hand from his face "An automobil attempted to run me over, however..."
"What?" Juliana gaped and paled at what she heard "Are you alright?"
"What?" Picard asked catching his last sentence, and stepped to him to fully listen to him.
Data looked at now both of them a little annoyed "...however, the only thing that got actually hit was my unfortunate jacket." he finished his sentence then squeezed his mother's hand in his "Please, don't worry, Mother." he told her with a tense smile, and letting her go, went back to the task of checking around in Emma's things.
Juliana watched him for a moment longer concerned then held up the jacket and looked at it to see how much it was damaged.
"I'll throw it away later and have another replicated, when I return to the Enterprise." she heard Data's nonchalant voice.
"I could repair it for you." she offered him on a silent, caring voice.
He shrugged "Unnecessary. The replicator is capable of making another one exactly like this, therefore it'd not worth your time." he waved her away without even looking at her.
Beverly just saw the disappointed and hurt expression that clouded the elder lady's features, and it occurred to her that she might have to talk to Data about his mother - at another time.
"Crusher to Enterprise." she called pressing her combadge.
"This is the Enterprise, we read you, Doctor." they heard Deanna's voice coming through the comlink. She took up the night-watch since Data was not available. She then added on a friendly tone "Go ahead, Beverly."
"Deanna. Hi! Could you please locate the combadge of Lieutenant Jones?"
"We certainly could, but, is there something the matter?" Deanna asked concerned.
"Well, we don't know yet..." Beverly started, but they suddenly heard Data's voice coming from the corner of the room, where he stood by an open drawer.
"Forget it, Doctor. It's not important anymore." he told them on a low voice that now had a hint of exasperation. They looked at him and saw him holding Emma's combadge in his hand. They all looked at each other crestfallen.
"Do you still read me, Beverly?" they heard Deanna's voice after a few long moments.
Beverly sighed and tried to overcome the sudden, all-consuming worry that she felt "Yes, Deanna. Please ignore my earlier request. It seems we need to find her without your help."
After a pause they heard Deanna again. This time, her voice seemed troubled "If there's anything we can do..."
"Yes, thank you, Deanna, but right now there's nothing you could do. Crusher out." she closed the comlink and looked at Data "You didn't find anything useful?"
He shook his head "She barely brought anything. A few clothes, that's all. No padd, no books, nothing... not that she has a lot of things at home to begin with." he told them silently.
The door opened, and the Admiral came through "I just talked to Premier Jones. He hasn't heard of his wife since he left here. He sounded pretty concerned."
Data raised his head sharply at this, and his features became hard as if they were carved in stone. That man was the cause of all of this! Emma would never have run away, if she wasn't as upset as she was, but ever since she became aware of the destination of this mission, she'd been upset virtually all the time! And based on the cold, clinical, cynical way Jones told him about her past... he started to grasp the basis of her being upset quite well. He was just about to voice his doubts, but the Admiral went on.
"I go now over to the Premier to try to appease his worry. And you, Picard, better figure something out, while I'm gone, because if this mission fails on a hot-headed, good-for-nothing Lieutenant, who has already been under YOUR command for two months, I'll have your head before Starfleet Command!" he rasped then turned to the door.
That was the last drop on Data's already strained, nearly overloaded neural net! His hands came up into fists, and he took a step towards the Admiral - not even fully knowing what he wanted to do to him once he'd get to him, but he knew he could be fairly innovative, if it was required of him! However, Picard stopped him with a firm hand on his arm and a hard gaze.
The Admiral fortunately didn't notice anything of the scene, just simply walked out the door and was gone in a moment.
Picard looked at his friend with an enviably calm expression "Mr. Data, I'd normally suggest anyone having troubles with anger-management to take a cold shower, however in your case I believe it'd be quite pointless. So will you just please sit down and take a few deep breaths."
Data glanced at him with a disenchanted expression then collapsed onto the bed slouching "I apologize, Captain." he breathed.
Picard shook his head firmly "Hmmm... Whatever you were about to do, we all had similar thoughts on our minds, I believe. But there's no point in making an already bad situation worse."
Beverly looked at the Captain with a small, proud smile then smothered the expression and glancing from him to Juliana - who stood there still clinging to her son's jacket as if she was holding her own son close - her gaze finally rested on Data. Her heart lurched at how lost he seemed. She had to do something for him.
She stepped to him and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. He looked at her just as surprised as he did when Juliana touched him, but this time, he had no irritation in his eyes. Juliana noticed it too, and her heart sank even lower than it already had.
Beverly smiled at him "Data. You know as well as I do, that Emma is the one person who knows this city, this colony, better than any of us. She's lived here for a very long time. I'm sure she's alright."
Data let out a deep breath and nodded "I want to believe the same thing, Doctor Crusher." he then gazed at her with desperation clearly written all over his face "However, I should've told you earlier, that a car was following hers. The one that almost ran me over. I do not presume those people had no malicious intent... But even if they didn't. She is out there somewhere, alone, in the dark, in the cold, believing that none of us trust her, that we all confide in her husband instead... and that I'm angry at her too..."
They all looked at each other not even trying to hide their worried expressions.
The tram took Emma to a part of the city that was commonly known as 'Chicago'. Most people living here didn't have a regular income from a legal source, while you could find all the stuff that you ever wanted, let that be legal or illegal, and nobody even batted an eyelash as long as you could pay for it. There were several huge factories, plants and other types of industrial lots, both used and unused, making it fairly easy to hide from the authorities - if that was your goal.
She took off at a tall, monster of a building that had been used as a production hall of a factory long gone out of use, before it was turned into a club. Emma looked up at the enormous building made of brown brick turned black at places from the toxic fumes of the industrial surroundings, and she felt a sense of trepidation, as if her heart was squeezed by a fist. She always hated this place. Hated the people inside, especially the men. Hated their looks on all and any women. But she had no choice now, she turned her head toward the dark alley, where the car that had been following her ever since, parked, then took the few paces to the entrance of the building and giving it a hard push, she entered.
Inside the air was stale with smoke and alcohol and many other things she didn't dare to recognize. Some music was blaring so deafeningly loud that her eardrums felt like giving in to the assault as the rhythm was ramming against them. As she looked around, she was not entirely sure whether the semi-darkness inside was caused by the purposefully bad illumination or the smoke that was so thick, she thought she could cut through it only with a sharp knife.
She pushed through the crowd of dancing people to get to the bar. She sat on a bar-stool and glanced behind, above her shoulder for an instant.
They were there. Two burly thugs in suits - pretty much out of place in Chicago. They got so close that from the corner of her eye, she could see that they pushed a wildly smooching couple out of their booth, so they could sit in their place to have as clear a view of her as they could. Ed, your freaking thugs are dumber than ever, she thought and had a very hard time paying attention not to glance toward them by accident, to lull them into the illusion that they were unnoticed.
"Em? I can't believe it, it's you! It's really you!" she heard from her left, and as she turned, she saw the bartender gaping at her. He was a middle-aged, balding guy with a really stupid moustache she could never understand - and a bowtie, which she could understand even less! He looked pretty much like a referee of a box-match, which she'd always found rather ridiculous.
She gave him a small smile "Lou."
He went on gaping at her "How long was it since I last saw you?"
"Too long. But I'm here now." she raised her eyebrows in mock-hurt "You don't even invite me, hon?"
He chuckled and shook his head "Haven't changed one bit!" but then raised a bottle and put a glass in front of her "For old time's sake!"
Just as he was about to pour the liquid into her glass, she put her hand above it, and he stopped in the motion just before the beverage could spill on her skin. He looked at her questioning, and she smirked "I'd prefer something stronger. A lot stronger, hon."
The smile disappeared from his features as he put down the bottle and propped his elbows on the counter "I figured that since you stopped coming here so suddenly, you either quit... or you're dead..."
She took her hand away from above the glass "I'm neither." she fumbled in her pocket and pulled out some banknotes "You don't need to invite me." she put the notes on the counter and pushed to him leaving her hand on the money. He grimaced apparently not really fond of the idea to serve her after all these years, but he did straighten to reach below the counter. When his fist came up above it again, Emma took his hand and gave it a hard squeeze as she leaned to him to talk into his ear "I also need a favour, hon." she told him, and though he looked confused, he finally nodded, and leaning to him again, she explained what she needed.
She then gave his hand a gentle squeeze, and finally took the small sachet full of a white, crystalline powder from him. "Thanks, hon." she hopped off the stool "Just take care o' yo'self!" she heard him from behind, but she didn't give him a backward glance, just pushed through the crowd to the ladies room as quickly as she could.
Before long, three, burly bouncers approached the two burly thugs that'd been Emma's tail, and a smaller fight broke out. When she heard the screaming of some girls and the sound of breaking glass and furniture, she peaked out of the restroom with an amused smile. She waited a good quarter of an hour, then left through the back-door, which led to the neighbouring alley.
She stopped short and pressed herself firmly into the dark doorway, when she spotted the two thugs. They were swearing and wiping blood from their hands and faces into their posh suits, where they were standing at the opening of the alley, below a small lamp that hung from another back-door. One of them made a phone call, and she listened intently to overhear it.
"Yeah... Yeah, she did... We saw her buying it, just as you said she would... No. No... We were bounced... No! Yes, sir. Yes, sir." the man added on an obedient mantra as if he was some sort of a soldier that really amused Emma. Then he ended the call "We're done." he declared to the other thug, and they left the alley to go for their car.
When she saw the vehicle pass by the alley, she stepped out onto the street and watched it leave. She took a deep, liberating breath "Check-mate, ma chérie. This game was mine. You always forget that pride goeth before a fall, you know me far less than you might think you do!"
A chilly wind blew through her thin coat, and she pulled the two sides more tightly together as she started out into the dark, autumn night. This time, without a companion.
A/N: Hope you liked the noirish feeling to these chapters! I certainly liked writing them, and some more is coming up! :) Tell me what you think, your feedback is always appreciated!
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Blind Chess