I hadn't intended to drag Beverly with me when I eventually left the ship, since she did have a career and a family, only for all of that to disappear and she came along willingly. We spent most of that shift talking and I filled her in on a bunch of things, giving her the briefing she needed.
When the shift was over, I led her down into the ship to sickbay. As soon as she saw the advanced medical technologies spread all over sickbay, she was downright eager to join in on my adventure and wanted to learn about everything she could from the several Doctor Chappels stationed there.
I left her to it and went to my own quarters and stepped inside, then froze at the sultan's suite it had been converted into. Draperies of cloth were hung all over and piles of large pillows were everywhere. I couldn't even see the bed, assuming there was a bed in there somewhere, and I sighed loudly, only to hear several giggles nearby.
“Come on, really?” I asked as the door closed behind me.
A Chappel sat up from under one of the many piles of pillows wearing a yellow harem girl outfit and she tossed a few pillows into the air. “Don't you just love this?”
I opened my mouth to argue and decided it wasn't worth it. I went to my closet and wasn't surprised it was filled with Arabian outfits a rich sultan would wear. I grabbed a bright blue one and went to the bathroom to shower and change for bed.
When I came out, I was apparently alone and I turned to one of the other piles of pillows. “Where did you hide the bed?”
The pile of pillows laughed and a different Chappel sat up wearing a red harem outfit. “I'll show you.”
I watched her jiggle enticingly as she hopped up, her top barely concealing her breasts, and she grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the middle of the piles of pillows. She batted a few of the pillows out of the way and revealed two other Chappels going at it like bunnies and really enjoying it.
“Uh, whatever.” I said and climbed onto the bed that was fairly low and close to the floor.
It was also orgy sized and I suspected that was the point, because six other Chappels came out of the pillow piles and joined us on the bed. Two joined in with the other two Chappels having enthusiastic sex and the other four climbed onto me and cuddled into my sides and at my waist.
“Mom, no bad touchies.” I said and closed my eyes.
“Awwww.” All eight Chappels whined.
“Not even a little bit?” The Chappel by my crotch asked. “I'll only suck on the tip, I swear!”
I almost laughed at the blatant lie. “I'm not cheating on Beverly right after you asked her to marry me.”
“Oh, damn.” Chappel said and laid her head down on my softness. “Not even a reaction?”
“No Beverly, no reaction.” I said and yawned. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.” They all said and I dozed off.
I figured they would try something like this and I had to silently admit the sultan harem thing was a good attempt. If they had included Beverly and dressed her as one, I would have been all over her without hesitation. Maybe my words will inspire them to eventually do that? Only time would tell.
*
Beverly Crusher was utterly amazed at all of the advancements she saw in the medical bay. She had her first few lessons on something called Vidiian organ assimilation and her fascination with making any organ compatible with any species enthralled her.
She left sickbay almost in a daze as her mind went through many scenarios, including growing new base organs with no genetic markers and then implanting them in needy patients instead of giving them mechanical or cybernetic replacements. It would be more reliable and there would be no fear of rejection or impacting the body in a negative way.
Beverly reached Tom's room and the door opened before she could ask for admittance. She smiled slightly at him allowing that and she barely noticed the layout of the room.
“Here, put this on. It's really comfortable to sleep in.” A Chappel said and handed her a similar outfit.
“Thank you.” Beverly said and stripped off right there and put it on absently, because her mind was focused on an experiment using a human brain. She wondered if the Vidiian medical technology would work to take a paraplegic patient's brain and put it into the body of a brain dead patient. The synapses were different and their nervous systems shouldn't be compatible; but, could that be glossed over?
“He's on the bed, just there.” A different Chappel whispered and pointed.
Beverly nodded and walked over to the largest pile of pillows, pushed one out of the way, then climbed inside and felt around. She felt a large foot and used it as a guide and climbed up the bed. Her hand might have groped him a few times as she passed as well, and she ended up laying on his chest.
“No... no... only Beverly.” Tom mumbled and his hands tried to gently push her off.
“It's me.” Beverly whispered and the hands stopped, then they grabbed onto her and hugged her close. She was quite flattered that even when half-asleep he was trying to save himself for her and that warmed her heart even more than the sudden proposal did. She kissed him and he let out a little moan and grew hard for her. That made her blush and she cuddled into his chest.
There were several other people on the bed and Beverly barely gave them a glance when she saw they were all Chappels. She closed her eyes and let out a contented sigh because she felt secure in the fact that Tom hadn't had a massive orgy with all of the Lwaxana Troi androids, even if that was something that they all planned to try. Why would they do that? Because they could. What other reason would they need?
Beverly fell sleep with a smile on her face and hugged the man she was quickly falling for. However it had come about, Tom was doing his best to give her everything she ever wanted in her life. A man to love, a ship to command, medical technology she could use however she wanted and for whatever she wanted, and they were going to pick up Wesley. There wasn't really anything else she could have asked for.
*
Wesley stared at the inquiry summons that gave him flashbacks to his own. His mind replayed that whole scenario and how the Board of Inquiry looked for someone to place the blame on, even if he and the rest of the elite squad were all equally at fault. Nick had stepped up and claimed responsibility, because he was the squad leader, and he was severely punished by being expelled.
It had also set Wesley's education back by a year and a half when he lost all of his academic credits, even the bonus ones he had earned for the advanced courses and projects he had completed. It had been a huge blow to his ego and it set his own outstanding academic record back to match those of the rest of his classmates.
Instead of advancing ahead like he planned, which was to finish Starfleet Academy two years early, his brilliance was classified as normal by everyone and he was back in the normal classes. He was thoroughly bored with all of it, too. He wasn't challenged, he lost his elite status, and he was only going through the motions as he passed in reports and wrote tests that getting 100% on only meant he was above average, since 90% was expected of everyone and not just him.
His console beeped at him and Wesley saw it was an incoming signal and wasn't a message like usual. He sighed and hit accept, since it was audio only. “I already told you I wasn't interested in heading to the science exhibit, Higgins.”
“That's good, because I'm not here for that.” A very familiar female voice responded.
“M-mom?” Wesley's voice cracked and he coughed. “Mom? How are you calling me? The Enterprise is...”
“I'm not on the Enterprise.” Beverly interrupted. “I'm about half a mile above you.”
“Half a...” Wesley's mind showed him several scenarios as to how that was possible. “Are you on a runabout or in a shuttle?”
Beverly chuckled. “No, I'm onboard a ship that's as intriguing as it is fast.”
Wesley sat up straighter. “Wait, are you here for the inquiry? I only just got the notice! How can you be here before it reached you?”
“Inquiry?” Beverly asked. “Hold for a minute.”
Wesley nodded, even though she couldn't see him, and sat there and waited.
“I see. Them gathering background information about me might have been a problem, if I hadn't already been suspended from Starfleet.” Beverly stated.
“You were suspended?” Wesley gasped.
“It's a long story, Wes.” Beverly said, a little sadly. “Are you busy right now? We can talk face to face and I can fill you in...”
“Beam me up right away!” Wesley exclaimed as his urge to get away from the drudgery almost exploded out of him.
“You're as eager to get away as I was.” Beverly said with a soft chuckle. “As soon as you stand up, I'll have the transporter room bring you aboard.”
Wesley leapt to his feet and shoved his chair out of the way. “I'm ready!”
“Go ahead and energize, Chief.” Beverly said. “Crusher out.”
Wesley grinned as he was covered in the telltale transporter energy and his view changed from his small academy dorm room to a normal size transporter room. His eyes widened at the sight of Ambassador Lwaxana Troi at the transporter controls and she even wore the right color uniform.
“Your mother is waiting for you on the bridge.” The woman said and as she ran a diagnostic and then put the console into standby mode. “Well? Don't just stand there, young man. She's waiting.”
“B-but... you...” Wesley stammered and then his face went red.
The woman let out a little laugh and waved at the door. “Go on. Everything will be explained soon.”
Wesley nodded and stepped off of the transporter pad. “How do I get to the bridge from here?”
The door opened and another woman that looked identical to the first stepped into the room, except she wore a blue uniform. “I'll take you there.”
Wesley's eyes almost popped out of his head as he stared at the second Lwaxana Troi, then his head whipped to the first, stared at her, then whipped back to look at the second one.
“That's the best reaction we've gotten yet.” Both of them said at the same time and looked pleased.
“Come on, Wesley.” The blue uniform one said and took his arm. “The bridge is this way.”
Wesley let the duplicate woman lead him out of the room and down the hallway to the turbolift. They rode it for only a short time and it opened onto the back of the small bridge. His experienced eyes had seen a few things that shouldn't have been on a ship this small and now his eyes roamed over the bridge and picked out a few more things that were only talked about by the engineering students.
Beverly stood up and smiled at him as she strode around the chairs and up the small ramp to pull him into a hug. “It's really nice to see you again, son.”
“Y-you too, mom.” Wesley said and hugged her back.
“Thank you for bringing him here, Chappel.” Beverly said with gratitude. “You can go back to whatever you were doing.”
“Mom? What's going on?” Wesley asked and his eyes went to the fifth woman that looked like Councillor Troi's mother.
Beverly saw his eyes dart around at the other Chappels and smiled. “Like I said, it's a long story. It all started when we reached Nervala IV and found someone alive on the surface that turned out to be a transporter clone of Commander Riker...”
Wesley sat there, dumbfounded, as his mother told him about a younger version of the commander that had appeared in her life, swept her off her feet, and showed her so many things that made her mind explode with the possibilities. The story was a little unbelievable, since the man had access to advanced technology for someone that only just came into existence on a planet cut off from everything else for eight years.
Beverly saw his disbelief and grinned at getting to use Tom's advice. “Schrodinger's Cat.”
Wesley sucked in a sharp breath and stared at her. “You're kidding!”
“Not even a little.” Beverly said and was glad it worked and convinced her son that it was all true.
Wesley stared at her as his mind started going over all the possibilities. “He really... he can also...” He mumbled and then he smiled. “Can I join your crew?”
Beverly laughed and pulled him into a hug. “You'll always be a part of my crew, Wes.”
Wesley hugged her. “Thanks, mom.”
Beverly let him go. “Now tell me about what's got you so down and depressed.”
Wesley opened his mouth to deny it and she gave him her best mom look. “How do you always know when I'm trying to hide something from you?”
Beverly smirked at him. “It's something that all good mothers can do.”
Wesley huffed and sat back in the chair. “It's a long story.”
Beverly nodded and looked at the Chappel at the Helm. “How long to reach the Devolin System?”
“At the moderate pace Admiral Riker has ordered for our travels, three days.” Chappel answered.
Beverly looked back at her son. “I seem to have plenty of time on my hands.”
Wesley thought about refusing, then let out a sigh. “Can you contact the academy and tell them I'm going to be AWOL for a week?”
“I already submitted your medical leave request under an associate's name.” Beverly said. “No end date is logged, so you don't have to worry about it.”
Wesley relaxed and smiled warmly at her. “Thanks for taking care of me, mom.”
“Even when you resent me for it, I still do it.” Beverly said, her warm smile matching his own. “Now, tell me all about what you're going through, even if it's embarrassing. I won't hold anything against you and I won't judge you until you're done, then I'll pull out my best mom glare, cross my arms, and tell you what I think.”
Wesley laughed at that image. “You've never done anything like that before!”
Beverly leaned forward and pet his hair. “That's because you've always been a good boy and I've never needed to.”
Wesley's face flushed red and he didn't stop her from petting him. It had been so long since the last time she did that, he realized that he didn't want her to stop, even if it was embarrassing to have her do it in public. He might have even tilted his head a little to make it easier for her to do so.
“I'm here, Wes.” Beverly said, her voice soft. “I'm here and everything is going to be fine.”
“I know it will.” Wesley said and closed his eyes briefly and wallowed in the familiar feelings of love and acceptance he always felt when he was at home. “Thanks, mom.”
Beverly leaned in and kissed his forehead. “You are more than welcome.”
Wesley nodded and started to talk. He started at the beginning, right from when he first enrolled at Starfleet Academy, and went from there. Beverly listened and kept her word. She didn't judge him as he told her everything he went through, everything he felt, and everything he was suffering through since then.
He wasn't sure how he ended up on her lap or why he had tears in his eyes as he continued his story. He was also disappointed in himself, in Starfleet, and how he was being forced to waste his potential as he stayed in the same boring classes as the rest of his classmates instead of being in the advanced classes his actual peers attended.
Beverly held him as her son poured his heart out for the first time in a very long time. Her own heart strained as she listened and she stayed quiet, even if she desperately wanted to reassure him. She couldn't do that until he was finished getting everything off of his chest and then she would pepper him with kisses and tell him how much she love him.