414 ENTERPRISING ENDEAVORS

Odo looked visibly happy when I arrived at her office promptly at the beginning of her shift. I couldn't help but smile at her for it, because expressing emotions had been quite difficult for her and having access to a Vulcan's mind meld and my own skills with mental protections, she could choose when and if she expressed herself that way.

Her uniform had changed slightly as well, to reflect both Starfleet and Vulcan influences. She looked more authoritative and distinguished and pulled it off well, even with the beige and brown options she had with the arms and pants. At least she lost the quilted look of the fabric and changed the center of the slim coat to a deep red and the awkward looking belt became a fully functioning equipment belt.

“You look good.” I complimented her. I didn't say more than that, because she felt what I really thought about her outfit and she fought to not blush with a mix of embarrassment and pride.

“Thank you, captain.” Odo said and nodded towards the Promenade. “Shall we begin with Quark's Bar?”

I smiled slightly. “Are you investigating how much profit he's making on his pure virgin ale?”

“No comment.” Odo said with her own slight smile.

I chuckled and we walked together down the Promenade Deck. More than one pair of eyes saw us and all of them widened at Odo's new look, both the uniform and her face and mimicked hair. It was wavy, dirty blonde, and moved like real hair, which surprised everyone that saw her.

“I understand why you don't wear heeled boots.” I whispered to her as we walked by so many shorter people.

Odo nodded at another worker at one of the stalls. “I tried to reduce my height once and almost immediately lost a portion of my perceived authority because of it.”

I held in my laugh. “You proved that when people have to literally look up to you, they see you as more important.”

“I did and I went right back to my... ahem... natural height.” Odo said a little sheepishly.

That I had to laugh at, because her height was whatever she wanted it to be.

We entered the bar and it was packed, even this early in the day. Surprisingly, a lot of the people were eating breakfast and also trying the expensive ale. It really was quite good and everyone enjoyed it, probably because Quark also didn't follow the recommendation to dilute it.

Odo discreetly asked a few questions of the patrons and they all answered without lying or trying to deceive her in some way. Having her own limited telepathy unlocked had given Odo much more confidence in herself and in her skills of talking to people. She was no longer reluctant to engage in normal conversation and nearly everyone she talked to in the bar noticed.

“You just can't leave well enough alone, can you, Odo?” Quark asked as he served another very small glass of Romulan Ale to an alien at the bar. He looked like a lump of something, with no neck, with a huge mouth, and very tiny ears that were high on his head.

“You can't fault me for asking around about your new product, Quark.” Odo said and placed a hand on the shoulder of the alien at the bar. “Good morning, Morn. I hope you are well.”

The alien gave her a look and didn't speak.

“I'm glad.” Odo said and patted his shoulder. “How is the ale?”

He raised the glass and took a small sip of it. The beady eyes widened slightly and that was it.

“You like it that much?” Odo asked, clearly surprised, and the alien nodded slightly. “Then you've convinced me to drop it for now.”

Quark scoffed. “Morn, just for that, the next one is free.”

The alien twitched his lip slightly in acceptance.

“Don't indulge too much.” Odo warned him. “It's quite potent.”

Quark scoffed again. “I know how to run a bar properly, Odo. Sales drop when the customers are too drunk to enjoy it.”

Odo nodded and motioned to me to follow her. “I'm checking suite three for contraband and illegal holo-programs.”

Quark groaned. “Again? Really? That was a month ago!”

“It's always a possibility.” Odo said and I followed her into a nice sized holo-suite. She typed up something on the panel, nodded several times, and initiated it. The room changed to a sauna and the female attendant there disappeared with a beep. “I don't need any other witnesses.”

I turned around to look at her, only to see her morph into a string bikini and pick up a bottle of massage oil. Apparently, with her scheduled inspection of Quark's cut short, she wanted to fill the time with something she always wanted to try and never had the chance.

“Strip.” Odo commanded and poured out some oil onto her hands.

“Right away, Constable Odo.” I said and stripped off, then I laid down on the padded bench.

Odo shivered at my immediate compliance and then proceeded to indulge herself as she massaged me all over. It didn't take long before we were both naked and having fun in other ways as we played with each other.

*

Voyager's stay on DS9 ended up being for an entire week and no one questioned the captain about it. It also gave more members of the crew a chance at a short shore leave on the station and they all took advantage of it. The ship left with little fanfare, since it was just one more ship among the crowd, and it jumped to warp to its next destination, Earth.

Why Earth? That was where Guinan was. She had opened a bar in Los Angeles, called Ten Forward Avenue, to keep herself busy. Why? The Enterprise D had been destroyed under mysterious circumstances that had been classified, the details hidden, and no one was talking about it.

Captain Janeway had been quite upset about it when he heard and the crew assumed it was because it was always a sad day when a captain lost their ship. At least the loss of life had been minimal. None of them would ever know the captain was upset for a much different reason.

Janeway hadn't been told about the incidents leading up to the Enterprise's last mission. If he had, he could have intervened and stopped some of it or even all of it from happening. Even the ship's battle bridge being scuttled to save the saucer section could have been avoided, and that really annoyed him.

The worst part about it all? Kirk's remains had been moved by Starfleet after Picard left them on Viridian III and Janeway couldn't go there and bring the woman back using his chronomancy powers. That was the real tragedy of the whole thing and the trip back to Earth was a slightly depressing one.

Voyager arrived in orbit around Earth in the Sol System and Captain Janeway declared a two week shore leave for the entire ship. He needed some time to come to grips with what happened and needed time away from the ship to do so. Starfleet sent up a skeleton crew to take over and everyone else on the ship left for the planet's surface.

*

I walked into the bar carrying the crate of Romulan Ale and everyone's eyes locked onto it. I expected that reaction and would defend myself and the crate with appropriate force. No one tried to jump me, so I made it to the bar unmolested where Guinan stood behind it.

“I really should say no.” The short dark skinned man said as I placed the crate on the bar.

“I'm giving you the crate anyway, so you don't have to.” I said and sat down to stare at the wall behind the bar. I didn't move, or asked for a drink, or did anything else.

Guinan sighed and waved one of her bartenders over. “Put the crate into secured storage and bring me out a singe bottle. Just one.”

The man nodded and carefully took the crate from the bar and disappeared into the back.

“You know he's skimming the credits and watering down the drinks?” I asked.

“Yes.” Guinan said. “As soon as he hands me the diluted bottle he can't successfully reseal, I'll have him arrested for grand theft and his credit account will be given to me for reparations.”

I nodded and a few minutes later, the man returned with a slightly red face. He put down the Romulan Ale bottle he wasn't strong enough to push the cork back into to fix the seal back into place and Guinan sighed. She waved at the security officer by the door and he ran over and tackled the man, roughed him up for being so stupid, and cuffed him. A quick call later, they teleported to a holding cell at the local Starfleet Security office.

“Excuse me for a few minutes.” Guinan said and took the ruined bottle and walked to the end of the bar. He entered the backroom as he hit his comm badge and called someone.

I knew she was calling the person I wanted to talk to and I wasn't sure if I should stay long enough for them to show up. I was almost afraid I was going to rant at her for what happened, for not sending out a distress call when she could have, and then being so stupid to confront the villain after she had already did as much damage as possible and Picard only saved the one planet of people.

Guinan came back over to me and gave me a very sad look. “It was a difficult choice for her.”

“No, it wasn't.” I said and Guinan didn't react. “She chose the option that would impact the rest of the Federation the least. She didn't consider anything else except that, which was how she convinced Kirk to give up her life to defeat the villain she could have prevented from doing it all in the first place.”

Guinan gave me a searching look. “You want to rant and rave at her.”

“Yes, because it was so shortsighted of her. She could have exited the Nexus at any point in time, at any place in space, and she chose just before the final destructive act instead of before the first one.” I said and gave Guinan a searching look. “Or better yet, sent Kirk back and given Dr. Soran her wish to save her family from her planet's destruction, which is the same wish as yours.”

Guinan sighed and nodded. He didn't say anything and started to clean a glass that didn't need it, just like all bartenders trying to keep themselves busy when they had nothing else to do.

Ten minutes later, a short grey-haired woman with shoulder length hair entered the bar. She wore normal clothes and looked uncomfortable in them, as if she wasn't used to them. Her eyes saw Guinan and she walked right over to the man.

“Guinan, it's nice to see you again.” Jeanne Picard greeted her.

“Old friend.” Guinan said, his patience almost palatable. “This is Kevin Janeway, your personal judge and jury.”

Jeanne turned to look at me and she didn't outwardly react. In her mind, she knew I was someone she didn't want to anger. I was a foot taller than her and much more muscular, not to mention physically younger than her at almost half her age.

“What gives you the right to judge me?” Jeanne asked.

I huffed at her. “Everyone that knows what happened is judging you, Picard. Even yourself.”

Jeanne gave me a stern look for a moment, then she sighed and sat beside me at the bar.

Guinan put two glasses on the bar that were half-filled with Romulan Ale. “It's diluted and ruined, so no charge.”

Jeanne nodded and took a sip. She winced at the taste. “You're right, it's ruined.”

Guinan ducked his head slightly. “I'll leave you two to talk.”

I waited for the ancient man to be far enough away before I spoke. “I really do want to rave and yell at you for what you chose to do.”

“I know.” Jeanne said and took another sip of her drink and winced again. “I do, too.”

“When's the court martial?” I asked.

“Two weeks.” Jeanne answered.

“They won't find either you or Riker at fault, despite the mistakes you made.” I told her.

Jeanne sighed. “Saving a planet of people outweighs the cost of a ship.”

“It does.” I said and tried a sip of my drink, only to gag and spit it out. “Wow, that's awful.”

Jeanne nodded and pushed her glass away. She sat there and didn't say anything.

“You're quiet.” I commented.

“I'm waiting for you to give in and start shouting.” Jeanne said.

I sighed and knew she felt bad about the whole incident. Sacrificing someone's life to end another, didn't sit right with her. “Just so you know, they've already commissioned another ship with the Enterprise name.”

Jeanne stiffened slightly and then turned to look at me. “How do you know that?”

“The same way I know you lost your sister and her children to a stupid and easily preventable fire at the family vineyard in France.” I answered and her eyes widened. “I'm sorry for that, I'm sorry for wanting to take my frustrations out on you, and I'm really sorry that hindsight always clarifies our mistakes when it's much too late to fix them.”

Jeanne slumped slightly and closed her eyes. “I'm the last member of my family and the Picard name will die with me.”

“You can always adopt, donate genetic material for a surrogate mother to give birth, there's cloning, test tube babies...” I listed and Jeanne stared at me as I made more and more outrageous suggestions, the last of which was entering the DS9 wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant and asking the Prophets to give her a copy of the children she would have had if she hadn't entered Starfleet.

“Would... would they even do that?” Jeanne asked.

I laughed at her considering the most ridiculous one first. “You won't know until you ask.”

Guinan walked back over to us. “I believe one of the first few options would be more successful and much less risky than putting your hopes on another people's religious deities to fulfill your wish when you don't worship them.”

“I have more to consider than I thought I did.” Jeanne said and stood up. “How long are you going to be here on Earth?”

“I assigned two weeks of shore leave to the crew.” I answered. “I'll be around until then.”

Jeanne nodded. It would end just as she went on trial and gave her plenty of time to go over her choices. “Guinan, always a pleasure.”

“Old friend.” Guinan said and we both watched Jeanne Picard walk out of the bar with her back straight and her head held high. The black man turned and looked at me with a smile. “You didn't tell her what you wanted to tell her.”

“She wasn't ready to hear it.” I said and nodded at the glasses. “You have to dispose of that. No one's going to want the real ale if you give them that to taste first.”

“Agreed. I just wanted to stop Jeanne from drowning her sorrow with a not quite sympathetic ear nearby to listen to her berate herself for her choices.” Guinan said and took both glasses and recycled them in the replicator behind the bar.

I almost barked a laugh at him admitting he helped her by giving her a drink she would never finish. “Well played, Guinan. Well played.”

Guinan nodded and gave me a glass of orange juice. “Now, tell me about how you managed to convince Ambassador Spock to let you permanently mind meld with her.”

I did bark a laugh at that. “Of course you know about that.”

Guinan smirked at me. “I'm a bartender. I know all the juicy gossip, just not the details.”

“I guess you know that she smiles at people now and that makes them nervous?” I asked.

“How else do you think I found out about you?” Guinan asked back.

I chuckled and started telling him the tale of setting up a meeting with the woman when I agreed to ferry Ambassador Velorum and his aide to Romulus, then ended up inviting her along instead and how things went from there. I left out the intimate and personal details of course, and Guinan enjoyed hearing all about it and how the Romulan Ale thing had been my idea in the first place.