“Oh, yes, I heard about that. Is it back in one piece?”

“All four legs are reattached and healing nicely,” Onnta said. “Cethente should be back on regular duty within two days.”

“Good, good.” Riker looked back to Vale. “Aili didn’t come back with you?”

She shook her head, which was still tinged midnight blue. “She still needs to stay as an interpreter. But she asked me to send her best.”

He smiled. “She already gave me that. And more.”

After a moment, he realized the others were giving him a very strange look. “I…I didn’t mean that the way it sounded!”

“Oh, of course, sir,” Vale said. “I’m sure you were completely professional while you were naked together for nearly a week.”

“Hey, I had a thong! Unhh…” He suddenly felt dizzy, his feet giving way under him.

Vale was there, catching him and easing him back into the bed. “Uh-huh. Well, like the old punch line says, the thong is over but the malady lingers on.”

He stared at her. “I don’t remember. Were you always this sarcastic?”

She sighed. “Consider it a defense mechanism. This has not been a good week to be the one making the big decisions. I’m really glad to have you back, sir. Really glad.”

He smiled. “Thank you.” Then he cleared his throat. “Then…could you do me a favor?”

“Of course, sir.”

His eyes went to the top of her head. “I am…really sick…of the color blue.”

She laughed. “I’ll get on it right away, sir.”

“When you can spare a moment.”

DROPLET

It took two days to finish replicating and deploying all the probes, and another half a day before the squales began reporting that the dissonance was fading from their magnetic Song of Life. The Song was not fully restored yet, since it would take time for the dying barophiles to heal and the population to replenish itself. The Song would be subdued for a time, and might even be changed once it returned, since the attrition of some species in the dynamo layer might allow other, faster-reproducing species to gain an edge, altering the “orchestration” of the Song. But the squales saw the Song as an evolving thing, and were confident they and their fellow Dropletian life forms would keep up with the changes. When he came back down to Droplet, Riker told them they had the spirit of true jazz musicians.

“And you were amazing too,” he told Aili when he was reunited with her. “I’ve heard the recording…. I never knew you could sing like that.”

“Neither did I, sir,” she said from where she floated in the water, next to the scouter gig where he sat. She still hadn’t donned any clothing, choosing to “go native” as much for the squales’ comfort as her own; but she now wore a field-damped combadge on a choker around her neck, at least. He still wished she’d put something on, but over the past week, he’d come to associate the sight of her nudity with experiences that were less than pleasant, so it evoked no stirrings in him anymore. “But I guess after living with the squales for a time, learning to think and communicate like them, I couldn’t help but improve my singing.”

He studied her, sensing something beneath her words. “Ensign…are you thinking of staying here?”

Her mouth hung open. “Oh, sir. No.”

“But the squales…they’ve essentially adopted you into their pod, haven’t they?”

“Yes, but…pods change members all the time. It’s like a family in a lot of ways…but it’s really more like a crew. And I already have one of those.” She smiled. “My responsibility is to Titan, and to you. I wouldn’t run away from that. I’ll stay here as long as you need an interpreter, an ambassador. But then I’m going back to the conn.” She winced. “Back to living in that damn hydration suit.”

He smiled down at her. “Maybe there’s a way to make the suit more comfortable. How about adding a pin?”

She tilted her head. “A pin, sir?”

Riker nodded. “A small, round gold pin with a black circle in the middle. To go next to the solid gold one on the collar.”

The Selkie gaped. “Sir?”

“Aili, you just saved a planet. People who save planets get to be lieutenants.”

She was speechless for a moment. Then she grinned. “Well, it’s about time!”

“It certainly is. I—”

“Gillespie to Riker. Come in.”

Riker looked up, though the shuttle was not in sight.

It had been on Titanat last report and wasn’t scheduled to return; it must have come down to relay a message. “Riker here.”

“We’ve just heard from theHorne and theArmstrong,” came Ensign Waen’s voice. “They’re coming in, sir, all hands safe and well. And Commander Troi says there’s an extra passenger she wants you to meet.”

TITAN

As soon as the shuttles had landed, Riker raced inside the Horneand into its aft compartment to see Deanna. The sight of her with their daughter in her arms was the most extraordinary thing he’d ever seen. He felt whole in a way he never had before.

He embraced her softly for a long time, the baby between them. She offered her to him without a word, and his arms cradled the tiny girl with great delicacy and care, though it felt like the most natural thing in the world. Her big black eyes looked up at him with awe to match his own.

“ Imzadi,” he said. “Look what we did.”