[Original story formerly published in paper by the Star Trek Italian Club, which graciously granted permission to publish it digitally. Cover and drawings by Chiara Falchini.]
Chapter XII
A few hours later, Viviana reopened her eyes; it was in the middle of the night, the suffused lights and the low vibration of the warp engines induced to sleep, thus the young woman fell asleep again.
When she opened her eyes once more, she found Beverly next to her bed.
"Well awakened, Viviana", the Doctor greeted her, "How do you feel?"
Viviana swallowed and realised her throat was dry.
"Water", she said hoarsely. Beverly went for a glass: no hypospray, no medicine in the world is more effective against thirst than a good sip of fresh water.
Glancing gratefully at the older woman, Viviana sat up with some difficulty and drank slowly, then she laid back again on the pillow.
"I feel completely dazed", she finally answered Beverly's previous question.
"It's normal, after what you've been through", the doctor stated in a reassuring tone, preparing at the same time an adequate remedy and then injecting it with the hypodermic syringe, "Better?", she asked. Viviana nodded: the feeling of dizziness had disappeared.
"How are the other ones?", she enquired.
"Perfectly well, they'll go back to duty this very day. As for you, you'll need a few days rest."
"I'd rather not", Viviana disagreed, "I don't want to stay idle, turning what happened over and over in my mind. I prefer to go back at work, I want to find out how exactly I tripped out the computer."
Beverly didn't protest: she knew perfectly how much an occupation could be helpful, in a case like this. She too, sometimes had buried herself in work, in highly dramatic moments of her life.
"Very well", she said therefore, "but only on condition that you take it with the greatest ease, okay? And if you don't, I promise I will commit you to sickbay by my authority, is that clear?"
"Absolutely clear, Doctor."
Fist thing first, Viviana went to her quarters to take a refreshing bath. She had just come out of the bathtub, when she heard the entrance buzzer ring.
"Come in", she said, and the door slid sideways revealing Riker and Deanna, both back in their uniforms.
They entered.
"We've come to see personally you're well", the Betazoid said, smiling. Viviana reciprocated her smile.
"I'm fine", she confirmed, then, realising she couldn't nor wouldn't hide anything, she added, "...or quite so."
"Bryan, right?", Riker said in an undertone. She nodded:
"Yeah. You know, I can't believe he was only a hologram, I felt him so... real, so alive", she shook her head, disconsolate, "Loosing my head this way, for a dream... I must be insane."
"No, you're not insane, Viviana", Deanna contradicted her gently, "You've only lived a dream, a wonderful dream, too intensely... If you yourself know it is but a dream, then you're not insane."
The young woman bit her lower lip, then nodded, agreeing with her.
"I was going to the engine room to see Geordi", she said, "Care to come with me? So we can find out what exactly has happened."
"We're here precisely for this", Riker stated, smiling.
Soon after they were entering the engine room. La Forge caught sight of them and came to them.
"Nice to see you, ladies, sir", he said, a large smile contradicting the formality of his words.
"Nice to have come back", Viviana replied, squeezing gratefully his arm, "Well, would you mind to explain us what's gotten into the computer?"
La Forge described it in short.
"Holy smoke!", Viviana muttered, "All because of a thoughtlessly expressed order... And how were you able to solve the problem?"
"It wasn't because of me", the chief engineer admitted, "It was Lieutenant Saunders who came up with the idea: a hard burst of Nanites specifically programmed to remove the block. Barclay, too, made a great job with the transporter. Anyway, once the obstacle had been removed, we switched off the program."
Viviana was struck by a thought; for a moment, an absurd hope rose up in her mind:
"Did you save the game?"
"Hum... actually, no."
Deanna perceived disappointment, but also a certain amount of relief, in Viviana's mind. She realised by herself that, for her, it had been for the best.
"You did a great job", Riker said, "Were are Barclay and Saunders? We'd like to thank them."
"Barclay is not on duty at the moment, but you'll find him later", La Forge answered, then brushed his communicator, "La Forge to Saunders, can you come here, please?"
"Sure, on my way", the lieutenant answered. At the sound of his voice, Viviana sharpened her ears: wasn't it that of...? Then she shook slightly her head: she couldn't delude herself, she couldn't allow herself to.
A few moments later, Saunders showed up behind them.
"Here he is", La Forge said, and the three of them turned. Viviana blanched abruptly.
"Nice to see you sound and safe, madam, sir", Saunders declared, addressing the two officers, "Lieutenant Saunders, I'm glad to meet you, Miss Morgante", he introduced himself, extending his hand to her, "I love hologames, and I'm a fan of yours."
Viviana's eyes were as wide as saucers.
"Bryan...", she gasped. It was the way she pronounced it: suddenly, also Deanna recognized Lieutenant Brian Saunders as the mysterious swordsman Bryan Darksword. He had no beard and his hair was short, but he was undoubtedly him. That's why she thought he was familiar to her... the computer didn't create the character out of nowhere, but it based upon a really existent person!
Viviana, shocked, swayed a little. Saunders quickly supported her, grasping her elbow.
"Are you feeling bad, Miss Morgante?", he asked, worried. His touch, so concrete, real, convinced Viviana she wasn't hallucinating, or going out of her mind. Somehow, she was able to recover.
"Everything's fine, thanks", she reassured him, "Just a passing malaise, due to stress", she lifted her magnificent blue-green eyes on Saunders, who felt like drowning in them. He held her elbow much longer than needed.
"I can't believe it", Riker whispered to Deanna, having recognized him, he too.
Deanna smiled to herself, incredulous; during her life, she had witnessed the weirdest events, the most absurd coincidences, the most unusual cases, but this surpassed them all by far: a computer in the disguise of destiny serving as deus ex machina was almost too much.
She shook her head: now she knew it was really true that real life occurrences are often more fantastic than the most visionary of novels.
Viviana and Saunders were still staring at each other, like frozen.
"I'd like to know how exactly the bug has been discovered", said the young woman, just to say something.
La Forge inhaled to answer, but the double glare he received from both Riker and Deanna persuaded him immediately to shut up. The blissful expression on Saunders' face finally enlightened him about the situation, and the chief engineer didn't hide a beam, but none of the two who had caused it did even notice.
"I was about to go to lunch", said Saunders, "If you like to keep me company, I'd be more than happy to explain everything."
"With great pleasure, Lieutenant."
"Please, call me Brian."
"And I'm Viviana", she replied, accepting his arm. Suddenly she recalled her manners and addressed the others, "Would you join us, Will, Deanna... Geordi?"
"Uh, no, no! Thanks!", Deanna said quickly.
"We're on duty", Riker explained, succeeding with a certain effort to made his voice sound normal, as well as to keep a straight face.
"Hum, I'm busy", La Forge excused himself, "Thank you anyway."
"Oh, fine", Saunders slipped, "Hum, I mean... next time!", he added, trying clumsily to fix his gaffe.
"Certainly", Riker nodded, his poker face blatantly contradicted by the naughty light shining in his clear blue eyes. He exchanged a smiling gaze with Viviana, who winked conspiratorially to him. They didn't need words to understand each other: he was telling her he was happy for her, and she was thanking him.
"Have you ever tried the Vulcan plomeek?", Saunders asked, getting underway.
"Sure!", Viviana answered, "Did you ever try bigoli co l'arna, instead? It's a typical speciality of the place I was born..."
"Then I must absolutely try them..."
They went away, walking along the hallway.
"I never saw anything like this", La Forge stated, "It's like they were both hit in the head!"
Riker grimaced, abruptly stricken by an unpleasant thought:
"Will it last?"
Deanna was still watching in the direction where Viviana and Saunders had disappeared, reading in them with her Betazoid senses.
"I think the odds are good, Will", she reassured him, "Really good."
They exchanged a smile, while La Forge, who didn't know the background, was gazing at them a little confused; he wasn't able to ask questions, because he was called by a technician and had to go and mind his duties. Riker and Deanna did the same, returning to the bridge.
"Is everything well?", Captain Picard asked.
"All's well that ends well, sir", Deanna stated, sitting on her seat to the left of the captain's chair. Picard made a baffled face and looked at Riker for an explanation.
"The story had an unexpected epilogue, sir", the first officer answered, sitting at his right hand, not realising he was being as cryptic as Deanna, "But everything's well, thank you."
Picard lifted his brows, moving his gaze back and forth between his two officers and trying in vain to guess the reason both had that satisfied and slightly idiotic smile on their faces.
He decided to investigate it later.
"Ensign Ro, set course to Star Base 12", he ordered then, "Warp 4."
"Yes sir", answered the helmswoman, beautiful Bajoran Ro Laren, "Course set and entered, sir."
"Engage", the Captain ordered.
Swift and elegant, the Enterprise dashed forward and, in a flash of blinding light, leaped into hyperspace.
THE END