Paramount Global owns the Star Trek franchise. This is a piece of fan fiction based on Star Trek the Next Generation characters.
The bridge at night
It had been two days since Data had any dreams or problems. He was alone on the bridge. These long night shifts gave him plenty of time to think. He noticed a shift in the air around him. It became sweet. Light. Nothing like the sterile atmosphere the bridge really was. He became aware of pressure on the left side of his body. With his left hand, he steadied himself against his console. It wasn’t important for him to remember to breathe. The motions were programed into him. Honeysuckle flooded is nose. He had the impression that she? ‘She’, he thought; was sitting across his lap with her head on his shoulder. His hand trembled as he laid it on what should have been her knee. The turbo-lift doors swished open. But he didn’t hear it. This impression had totally consumed him.
Captain Picard stepped onto the bridge. He looked at Data, it seemed to Picard that Data was unaware of his presents. He walked down and sat in the chair at the console beside Data. His left hand was laying on his console; while his right hand was laying on his right knee. Data looked like a statue sitting there. “Data.” Picard called to him. He didn’t move. “Mr. Data.” He said louder without shouting.
Data jerked setting up straight, “Captain.”
“The bridge is very peaceful when we are not here.” Picard sighed, trailing his finger ‘round the edge of the console.
“And talkative, sir.”
“Talkative?” Picard was trying to figure out how peaceful and talkative went together.
“Yes sir, talkative, even to the point of babbling at times.” Data remembered a time when the Captain told him he babbled and smiled. “The Enterprise will tell you everything she knows if you will listen to her.”
“What is she telling you?”
“She is telling me that in the past 24 hours, we have passed 2 class M planets, one with a pre-industrialized humanoid civilization; two long range comets; twelve spatial anomalies, and a star going super nova.”
“Is that why you volunteer for the night shift so often?”
“I do not require sleep….”
Picard raised his hand, interrupting him. “I know Data.”
“I had never thought about it in that manner, sir. I had never tried to romanticize it, sir.” He turned to his console then back to the Captain. “May I enquire why you are up so late?”
“Oh,” Jean-Luc continued tracing the console with his fingertips. “I can’t sleep.”
“Insomnia?”
“Maybe for tonight.”
“I have read that warm milk is a good remedy to help one fall asleep.”
“Not tonight. I want to talk to you.”
“About what sir?”
“What’s eating at you?”
“Sir?” Data was puzzled.
“What’s bothering you?”
“I am sure that things have happened to you that you would like to forget but cannot. Or maybe it is a dream? I have really been struggling with something and I am not sure how to classify it. Dr. Soong put a dream program in my emotion chip. I have not activated it. However, I have been dreaming. I can only assume that they are suppressed memories coming to the surface. I do not know where these memories are coming from. I can review my memories and do often.”
“When you review your memories, what are you looking for?”
“To see if I can learn something different. Learn more.”
“What makes you think these are memories?”
“They are real to me. They are getting more… “Data trailed off as he thought for a moment, “physical.”
“Physical? How?” Picard was shocked.
“With the last one, I woke in sick bay.” He turned back to his console.
The Captain left.
*
Jack R. Crusher, Beverly’s late husband. Wesley’s dad.
Poetry & More 
As a lifelong trekkie, I love this!
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Thank you 💕 🤗
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