Author's Note: Thank you so much for your ongoing support!
This is part two of our Data/Geordi friendship piece. It is also our tie-in with Measure of a Man.
Due to the length and depth of that storyline, it is a separate companion fic entitled The Case.
You can find the first two chapters of that posted & available now.
Due to the nature of events in that story, The Complication will be on hiatus until The Case is complete. At this pace, I anticipate that we will pick back up toward the end of August.
On that note, The Classified Incident will also resume later in August.
Until then, please enjoy The Case and (the now updated!) And Then There Was Fun!
-X-
"So then what is it?" Picard asked.
"We don't know," Ensign Gomez reported.
Jean-Luc fought the urge to cringe. This was the second day that he'd been awoken before 05:30 on 'urgent business.'
Sonya sensed the Captain's disapproval.
"But we do know that it is not a wormhole, sir," Sonya said.
Jean-Luc nodded slowly as he processed this. At the very least, it was progress – even if they weren't sure what they were dealing with or how to use such information to find Geordi and Data.
"Sir, we'd like to send a survey team to the asteroid," Tasha requested.
"You'd like me to authorise a team to approach an unknown object at the last known coordinates to two missing crew members?" Picard said, reframing her request. "A location, I might add, that is in the middle of a dangerous asteroid field with significant interference."
Tasha bit her lip.
"Yeah," she replied simply.
If they found themselves stranded, there would be little the Enterprise could do.
"Lieutenant, anyone that goes there could be risking the same fate that's befallen Geordi and Data," Picard reminded her.
Tasha knew this – but she couldn't say no.
They needed answers.
And there was only one way to find them.
"Sir, please," Tasha insisted. "If this were any of us, Geordi and Data wouldn't hesitate."
Jean-Luc felt conflicted.
He desperately wanted to stay and search for Geordi and Data for as long as it took to find them. They were two of his finest officers. More than that, they were friends.
But he had his orders.
"Lieutenant, Ensign," Jean-Luc began.
There was a hint of pain in his voice.
"Last night I relayed news of our delay to Admiral Nakamura on Starbase 173," Picard explained. "As you know, we have crew rotation scheduled and must resupply."
Tasha braced herself for the worst to drop.
"Our delay will put both the Atakapa and the Cecil behind," Picard informed them.
Tasha smiled nervously.
"Sir, surely this development is sufficient enough reason for us to extend our search," Tasha said.
YOU ARE READING
The Complication
Fanfiction"Am I the 'complication'?" Data asked. Following the events on Ligon II, Data struggles to reconcile the discrepancies between Tasha's verbal and nonverbal communication. Furthermore, his attempts to better understand what's happening lead to him fr...
