From: plp1@Ra.MsState.Edu (pat parker)
Subject: Cruel Mercy Part 3 (REPOST)
Organization: Mississippi State University
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1993 03:18:30 GMT


Star Trek
The Next Generation

_Cruel_Mercy_

_Part_III_

By Patrick Parker, June 1992

* * * * *

      Geordi could not sleep.  He sat at his desk in his quarters, the
computer showing scenes from his childhood.  He flipped through the dozens of
pictures numerous times, each one bringing back a cherished tidbit of memory
that had gotten buried under so much other stuff in his mind.
      A picture of his father, who had died when Geordi was two years old.  He
couldn't even remember the man.  What he did remember was his mother who
raised him by herself.  Geordi had not realized what a difficult
responsibility that had been for his mother until he was grown.
      A picture of Geordi when he was only months old.  His father was holding
him and his mother was smiling proudly at her child.  The only thing out of
place was the child's sightless eyes.  
      A picture of young Geordi LaForge, standing by his mother and modeling
his new VISOR.  There were very few experiences that he could remember from
that age, but this was one that he remembered vividly.  He was terrified by
the shifting bands of light and color when they first clipped the VISOR on and
he "saw."  His mother had coached him as best she could while he learned to
control the accessory.
      A picture of his mother's second wedding.  Her second husband was a good
man, but he'd died soon after the wedding.  A picture of the funeral.
      "Computer, discontinue images and rearchive."
      Lt. Commander LaForge got dressed and wondered down to Main Engineering. 
There was only a skeleton crew on duty there, and they were playing cards.  He
waved at them, moved over to the main terminal, and sat down.
      "Computer, what is the status of the navigational deflector project?"
      "The main power feed has been disconnected and rerouted.  The external
navigational deflector arrays have been removed.  The data models have been
updated, but are not in service.  All materials have been catalogued and an
inventory is now appearing on viewer three."
      "Computer, discontinue listing." 
      Lt. Commander Laforge was impressed.  He had been worried that Barclay
would have trouble getting the others to follow his lead, but apparently he
had picked a good team and they were getting the work done faster than
expected.  Geordi made a mental note to commend Reg on his good work.
      "Computer, place the duty roster for tomorrow's deflector project team
on viewer three.  Hmmm... Baker, Barclay, Fredricks, Gomez, and Pierson."  Reg
certainly picked the best people, even though Pierson and Baker could
sometimes get out of hand poking fun at Barclay.  Fredricks would be too busy
checking the new data models to cause Reg any problems.  Reg sure shouldn't
get trouble from Gomez.  Geordi secretly thought that Gomez liked Barclay.  
      He smiled to himself.  "Oh, well.  Reg seems to be handling it pretty
well.  Nothing left here for the old Lt. Commander to do."  

* * * * *

      Geordi was at Starfleet Medical bright and early the next morning,
talking with the doctors.  "Have you come up with anything else?"
      Dr. Pulaski sipped on a cup of steaming coffee.  She looked much better
this morning.  "Frankly, no.  We can attempt to swap the neural pathways, like
we talked about yesterday, although the chances of success are still uncertain
at best.  Or we can continue trying to keep her stable and keep her pain
levels down as low as possible."
      "How long can she last without the remapping procedure?"  Geordi leaned
forward in the chair with his elbows on his knees.  He stared at the doctor.
      "I don't know?  Dr. Crusher, you have more experience than I do with
Boliara's Disorder.  What do you think."
      Dr. Crusher shrugged her shoulders.  "We have no way of telling just how
long she could last in her present condition, but we do expect that if
something is not done soon, that the disorder will spread to the unaffected
subprocessors in her brain and we won't even have the option of remapping
cardiac and respiratory functions."
      "Well, doc, it looks like the best bet is to try the remapping
procedure."  Geordi gave her a half smile that seemed more than just a little
forced.
      "We will certainly do everything we can to get your mom back."

* * * * *

      "Awww C'mon, Freddie.  You know it's harmless, and it'll be funny."
      "No.  I don't think he'll be cool about it.  It'll get back to LaForge
and then we'll get it."  Fredricks looked intensely at Pierson for a moment,
then went back to his programming.
      "Oh, be for real.  Broccoli is a pain in the ass, but he won't tell
LaForge on us.  He hasn't ever before."
      Fredricks looked up at Pierson, annoyed at having been interrupted from
his programming.  "Look, I really don't think this is cool, and besides, if he
doesn't tell LaForge I think Gomez will."
      At that moment, Barclay walked into Main Engineering with Baker and
Gomez.  Fredricks was relieved to be able to get away from Pierson for a few
moments.  They all gathered around Barclay to get their instructions for the
day.
      "O-Ok, guys,  Today we gotta fire up the new -uh- power transit and test
the harmonics at nodes f-fourteen through twenty-t-three."  Just like the
Counselor had promised, Barclay had not had any more trouble from his team
since the Earth-One tech had mistakenly called him 'Broccoli.'  He was
actually getting used to giving assignments since he had seen that the team
would do what he said.
      "G-Gomez."  He still couldn't look her in the face when he spoke to her. 
"I need you to -ahmmm- G-go up on the catwalk over there and do the harmonics
testing for nodes fourt-t-teen through eighteen.  Baker, you take the rest. 
The test points are over there."  They nodded at him.
      "Freddie, you and P-Pierson stay on the computer over there and monitor
the data models.  Uhm...Make sure to w-watch for race conditions and
bottlenecks on the -ahhhm- secondary processors.  Those could cause trouble. 
You guys shut the thing d-down if you see any problems over there.  I'll b-
begin the p-power-up slowly so we can have time to, -uh- you know, check it
all real carefully."
      Their meeting broke up and they all began taking their assigned
positions.  Barclay got a datapad and began checking the information on it. 
Gomez and Baker got their equipment and began ascending to the catwalks while
Pierson and Fredricks walked over to the console.
      "Man, Freddie, I can't believe he had the nerve to tell YOU about race
conditions and bottlenecks.  He ought to know you're a better programmer than
that."  Pierson whispered as they were taking their places.  Fredricks glanced
over at Pierson with a barely controlled look of irritation.  They got to
their console and Pierson continued whispering to Fredricks as they pulled
their diagnostic programs up.
      Meanwhile, Barclay was watching the other two ascend to their test
sites.  When everybody was in place he called out to them.  "Ahmmmm, OK here
goes nothing.  C-Computer, apply power to the -um- deflector transit.  Five
percent only."
      They all listened as a faint hum filled the room.  Barclay glanced up to
the two engineers on the catwalks.  Two thumbs up.  He checked something on
his datapad. and glanced over at the two on the computer console.  Fredricks
was busy modifying some portion of the program while Pierson stood over him
watching.  Looks good, Barclay thought.
      "Ok, Computer.  B-Bring it on up to fifteen percent."  The whine
increased in frequency.
      On the port catwalk, Gomez was reading the increase in power and as the
computer loaded the transit more, she frowned and called out to Barclay.  "I
just read a brief fluctuation in the transit.  A little more power will
probably burn the impurities out of the pathway and straighten this out." 
Baker called out from the starboard catwalk  "I'm not reading the fluctuation
over here.  All systems green."
      Barclay called out for the computer to increase the power load to
twenty-five percent.  The pitch increased again.  He looked up at Gomez who
was shaking her head.  Still having fluctuations.
      "C-Computer, what is the C-Current load on the port deflector transit?"
      "The load on the port deflector array transit is..."  The computer
paused.  "T-T-T-Twenty-F-Five P-P-Percent."
      Barclay looked up, flabbergasted that the computer was mocking him,
while Pierson fell back into his chair laughing.  As Pierson laughed, a
flashing light on his diagnostic panel went unnoticed.
      Suddenly the pitch of the whine in the compartment rose dramatically. 
Gomez looked in shocked horror at her readings as the pitch steadily
increased.
      "Shit!"  Screamed Fredricks and dove for his console.  He began
manipulating the transit power controls frantically.
      Gomez suddenly realized her danger and dropped her tricorder.  She
turned to climb down from the catwalk, but she was too late.  The port transit
exploded directly behind her sending her flying through the air in a violent
spray of sparks and metal shards from the transit cabinet.  Her body fell in a
smoking heap in the center of the compartment just as the lights went out.
      Seconds later the red emergency lighting came on and the extinguishers
began choking the flames out.  Barclay stumbled over to where Gomez lay and
turned her over.  A pool of blood was forming under her hips, where a fragment
had sliced her inner thigh open.  Barclay stuck his hand across the wound and
leaned.  With his free hand he tapped his communicator.  "Sickbay this is
Engineering.  M-Medical Emergency."  He then used his free hand to press off
the blood flow through the femoral artery.  With his hands drenched in blood,
he waited for help.

* * * * *

      Geordi was worked up into a rare state.  He paced back and forth in the
hallway outside the operating room waiting like an expectant father for news
of his mother's condition.  Unlike an expectant father, however, he didn't
have a new life to look forward to.  He had the distinct chance of losing his
mother.  He looked at his chronometer.  The doctors and assistants, dressed in
their red hooded outfits had entered the room over an hour ago.
      Geordi jumped when his communicator beeped.  Tapping the badge, he
responded.  "LaForge here."
      Worf's deep voice came over the comm badge.  "Lieutenant Commander
LaForge.  You are needed on the Enterprise."
      "NOW, Worf?  My mom is in the middle of..."
      "Yes.  There has been an accident in Engineering.  Prepare to beam up."
      As the transporter beam locked onto Geordi and he began to feel himself
dematerialize, he saw a group of interns round the corner wheeling a cart of
equipment.  He saw them burst into the operating room at full speed, and then
he was on the Enterprise.

* * * * *

      Geordi and Worf stood surveying the damage to the Engineering
compartment.  The gas from the fire extinguishers was beginning to clear from
the air.  On one side of the compartment some medics were straightening out a
body and placing it into a body bag on a maglev.  Even through the bag, Geordi
could see the body rapidly losing it's heat.  He nudged Worf and pointed to
the body.  "Who is that, Worf?"  The engineer recognized people by their
electromagnetic aura that surrounded them in life.  On this individual he
couldn't tell.
      "That,"  Stated Worf, flatly.  "Was Lt. Baker."  The massive Klingon
turned away from the medics to shift through the rubble.
      "What about the others.  Who else was in here at the time."
      Worf looked back over his shoulder.  "Lts. Fredricks, Barclay, Pierson,
and Gomez.  They are currently in sickbay.  Gomez is expected to die soon." 
Worf was obviously outraged that an explosion would happen on his ship, while
in spacedock.  It simply did not look good for the security officer.
      Geordi turned and followed the medics to sickbay.  The outer ward of
sickbay was filled with nurses tending to minor injuries that occurred when
the ship was rocked by the explosion.  Geordi moved through the crowd into the
inner ward where Picard and Riker were surveying the injuries. 
      Picard turned to Geordi.  "Mr. LaForge.  To say the least, I am not
pleased.  I would like to see you and the remainder of the senior staff in the
conference room in thirty minutes.  Bring along Barclay and Pierson."
      "Aye aye, Captain.  What about Gomez."
      "Acting CMO Selar is operating on her as we speak."
      As he said that, a door slid open and Selar appeared.  Her face, in
typical Vulcan fashion, betrayed no emotion.  Her olive complexioned face and
straight black hair were splattered with blood.
      "Doctor."  Picard turned to her.  "How is Lt. Gomez?"
      "Captain, Lt. Gomez will live.  I have repaired her femoral artery and
have given her an infusion of replicated blood."  The Vulcan doctor paused to
wipe some blood from her face.  "However, Captain, It was Lt. Barclay who
saved her life."  The doctor turned without another word and moved to tend to
another patient.
* * * * *

      Drs Pulaski and Crusher were so far down into the brain that it took the
largest fleet of medical computers in the Federation to keep them sorted out. 
They had just finished the remapping when an enormous surge of impulses hit
the new pathways like a crew rushing for a single transporter on a dying
starship.  The doctors watched, fascinated, for a moment as their handiwork
held up and performed it's function properly.  Dr. Pulaski even ventured a
smile at the thought that their procedure had worked.
      But suddenly Dr Crusher burst Kate Pulaski's bubble.  "Well, the enzyme
ratio is holding, but take a look at the fourth sextant."  She pointed to the
computer screen to a small section that was showing signs of neural
repolarization.
      "Neural Sodium and Potassium level dropping fast."  Pulaski indicated
for the computer to stabilize the neurochemical levels at nominal levels, but
before it could get the chemical level changed, the patient's respiratory and
cardiac functions seized up and refused to be restarted by the automatic
surgical support systems.
      "NURSE!...get a cart in here.  NOW!"

* * * * *

      "Do you realize, men, the severity of your actions?"  Captain Picard
continued his monologue.  "By tampering with that computer, you neglected your
duties, causing the death of one crewman and almost causing the death of
another.  If that explosion had broached the antimatter containment fields,
you would have destroyed at least the Enterprise, and perhaps Earth-One as
well."  Picard turned away from Fredricks and Pierson and rubbed the top of
his bald head in aggravation."
      "Captain, "  Worf broke in.  "These two may have sabotaged the power
transit deliberately."  He looked at the two with disgust and rage.  If they
could have sunk farther into their chairs, they surely would have.
      Lt. Commander Data entered the room and informed the group of senior
officers that he had managed to get the glitch removed from the Engineering
computer, and that Earth-One and Enterprise engineering crews are beginning to
repair the damage.
      Captain Picard turned back to the security officer.  "Mr. Worf.  Please
arrange to have these two transported to Earth to await trial."  He then
turned back to the others at the table.  "Dismissed."
      As Worf took the two by their elbows and steered them out of the
conference room, LaForge turned to Barclay who had been sitting next to the
two ex-officers.  "Reg, you obviously didn't do anything wrong.  You couldn't
control what happened there, and this will not reflect poorly on you."
      Counselor Troi picked up from there.  "He is right, Reginald.  I think
we should go to my office and talk."  She stood, and she and the overwrought
Barclay moved to leave.  They were stopped short by LaForge, who placed a hand
on Barclay's shoulder. 
      "Reg.  When you get through at the Counselor's office, if she says it's
OK, I want you to get back to Engineering and head up the cleanup and repair
operations, as well as the deflector project.
      "Oh, I-I-Idunno, I d-don't think..."
      "Reg, If the Counselor says you're fit, I want you to do this.  My
respect for your qualifications hasn't changed since this accident."
      With just a little coaxing, Troi got Reg out of the room, and LaForge
sighed and started out, only to be called back by Picard."
      "Mr. LaForge, you are becoming quite a good leader.  That was, it seems,
a good way to get Lt. Barclay 'back in the saddle' as it were."  He smiled the
smile that all of Picard's crew worked so hard to see.  "Lt. Commander, I
think that will be all for now.  You may return to Starfleet Medical. 

* * * * *
      
      The horror that greeted Geordi when he returned to Starfleet Medical was
unlike any he had ever experienced.  The tank was filled with a thin pink
Trioxin fluid and his mother lay immersed in it.  She still had the
neuroprobes attached to her temples.  The probes' flashing lights filtered
through the pink fluid, creating an eerie visual effect.  Another set of
probes were attached to her chest just below the left breast and hat he was seeing.  They had said that the operation was a failure, and that
she had been placed in a life support tank.  They had told him, but he
couldn't have imagined it without seeing it for himself.  He slowly turned
away from the tank.  One of the doctors was saying something, but he couldn't
hear her.  He didn't even remember the doctors catching him as he fell.
      He saw his mother in a strange halo of color and light.  She was leaning
over to kiss him on the forehead.  Holding him as he cried about his first
lost love.  Watching proudly as he graduated the academy.  Smiling serenely as
her new husband lifted the veil.  Smiling, was she smiling?  No she was
screaming and Geordi could see her brain through her skull.  He adjusted his
VISOR, but to no avail.  He watched as her brain slowly dissolved.  She was
screaming for Geordi to help her.  Screaming for him to do something.  Do
something.  Do some... 
      There was a hiss, like someone's final breath.  He tried to turn away
from it, but it had him.  He couldn't move.  Then there was voices, first far
away, then closer.  Who was it.  He recognized it.  It sounded like...
      "Doctor!"  He tried to sit up, but Dr. Crusher pushed him back down.  He
couldn't see her, but he could hear her talking.
      "Lie still, Geordi."

* * * * *

      Worf stood in his sparsely furnished quarters grinding his teeth.  Dr.
Crusher had informed all of the senior bridge crew of the outcome of Mrs.
LaForge's surgery, and of the Lt. Commander's fainting.  Of course Klingons
did not faint, but Worf had come to expect such weakness from humans, even
exceptional humans such as Lt. Commander LaForge.
      Still, this was not the time for such weakness.  There was no honor in a
perfectly healthy man lying in bed beside his half dead mother.  Worf decided
he would pay LaForge a visit and inform him of how he should be acting in this
situation.
      He left his room and his long strides carried him quickly to transporter
room eight.  Down on the planet, he quickly oriented himself and made his way
to Geordi LaForge's room.  Nobody at the hospital even attempted to detain him
or tell him he could not see the Lt. Commander.  It would have been futile,
for it is truly difficult to oppose a Klingon who has a goal.  He found the
Commander sitting in the ward with his mother. 
      "Lt. Commander, I see you are well."  Worf stood in front of Geordi with
his hands behind his back.
      "Yes, Worf.  I will be OK.  I was just sitting here..."
      "Doctor Crusher informed me of your mother's condition."  He glanced at
the life support chamber with obvious disgust.  "You now have only one
choice."
      "What are you talking about, Worf."  Geordi was confused.
      "You must...,"  Worf paused to emphasize his next words.  "help her to
die well."
      Geordi looked dumbfounded.  "But Worf, we can't just give up on her. 
She can still recover."
      Worf rocked forward on his toes and lowered his voice.  His outrage was
barely controlled.  "She is already dead, Lt. Commander.  It is the machines
that are still alive.  You do not do justice to your dead mother by allowing
her to continue to..."  Worf rocked back and pulled back his shoulders. 
"...exist."  The last word was said with blatant disgust.
      Before Geordi could form words into a coherent reply, a voice came from
the door of the ward.  "Now just you wait a DAMNED minute, Klingon!"  Worf
turned to the speaker.  The Klingon's teeth were exposed and he was ready to
attack.