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ers, that parts of the saucer might survive the impact. Even so, many would diemand there was no way to predict who those might be.

Time is running out, Mr. La Forge ….

Wails and panicked murmurs rippled through the tube as those inside froze in horror; a child began to shriek. Geordi summoned the mental image of Picard at his most authoritarian, then thundered, “Keep going!”

Slowly, the dark figures in front of him began moving again. Within seconds, he was grasping Farrell’s hand and emerging from the tube into the brightly lit corridor. The ship was rocking, vibrating so hard by this time that he had trouble keeping his balance; it felt like standing on the holodeck version of the nineteenth-century sailing ship—in the middle of a typhoon.

Somehow, he managed to stay on his feet, to direct the tide of moving bodies down the corridor. Before him, the two teachers hurried, crouching over their young charges, arms spread like sheltering wings, pushing them along. Geordi found the hand of the dark-haired girl who had lost the bear and ran to the front of the group, shouting directions.

“Over here!” He waved toward the nearest officer’s quarters. “This way!”

He reached the entrance first and paused to let go of the little girl’s hand; a teacher clasped it and hurried past, to the safety of the living room, where she braced herself and the children with her against the carpet and bolted furniture. Geordi remained in the doorway, pushing bodies through, gesturing for those still in the corridor to hurry inside. Farrell joined him and began to help directing traffic.

“Sarah!” A desperate-eyed father swooped upon a weeping golden-haired child just before she was shoved inside the quarters, and carried her away.

Geordi and Farrell kept working until all the corridor was clear, then ran inside themselves to huddle with the crowd of adults and children. Geordi fell onto the nearest spot of bare carpet, and found himself staring over at the glistening, tear-filled eyes of the teddy-bear girl, who lay beside him. Her face was flushed, damp, her dark, straight hair tousled; but it was the misery in her dark eyes that filled Geordi with a compassion that made him forget his own fear and see only hers. He reached for her small, dimpled hand, leaned close to her ear so that she could hear him above the klaxons and the shuddering ship. “It’s all right. It’s going to be all right. Just hang on and don’t let go …. “

“My mommy,” she whimpered. “I don’t know where she is …. ” “Where does she work?” Geordi asked. “Engineering.”

“Then she’s okay.” He patted her silken hair. “Everyone made it out of engineering. I made sure of it.”

“But where is she?” Tears spilled onto her full cheeks. “I couldn’t find her …. “

“I bet I know where she is,” he said, and almost smiled at the sudden hope on her face. He stroked her hair once more. “Somewhere nearby, worrying about you.”

“Are we going to die?” she asked suddenly, with such matter-of-factness that he was taken aback.

“No,” he said, feigning confidence. “This is the safest part of the ship. It’s going to be all right.”