Picard's Wrath

"Rachel, why can you not simply tell me what this is all about?" Data asked as he followed Rachel into the hideout, curiosity flowing through his positronic net.

"You'll see. It's a surprise!" Rachel led Data to the right-hand side of the couch, and the android let out a gasp when he saw what waited for him there. It was the drawing of Emma!

"Oh, Rachel, you are wonderful!" Data grabbed Rachel in a hug and spun her around.

Rachel flushed. "Barclay told me he found the actual drawing well hidden under a stone formation near the village. He scanned it and later programmed the image into the computer. I asked him if it was possible to replicate a copy of the drawing, so we tried it and here it is! I'm so happy you like it!"

Data clapped his hands. "It is so brilliant! The color of her eyes is perfectly reproduced!" He laughed like a delighted little boy at Christmas. "Why, Emma, run away with you? This is all so… so sudden!" Data spun around in joy, but slammed on the brakes when he saw who had just entered the room.

"Captain!" Data looked as though he had just been slapped; he was that astonished. Rachel eyed Picard nervously, watching the fury build up behind his eyes.

"I consider myself a reasonable man," Picard said, his voice trembling with anger. "I set certain rules, and I expect those rules to be obeyed!"

"Sir, I –" Data began.

"Is it true you rescued a colonist from drowning?"

"Sir, I had to!"

"Contact between Starfleet officers and the Romana I colonists is strictly forbidden! Data, you know that! Everyone knows that!"

"She would have died!"

"You may have done a heroic thing in saving her life, but you should not have made contact with her! It is a direct violation of Starfleet's rules!"

"Captain, I love her!" Data burst out. Rachel and Riker closed their eyes and waited for the blow to fall.

"No!" Picard's expression turned from angry to shocked and back again faster than one could blink. "Have you lost your senses completely? She's a civilian! You're a Starfleet officer – and an android!"

"I do not care," Data spat, still holding on to the drawing.

Picard's temper had finally reached boiling point. "So help me, Data, I am going to get through to you!" he roared. "And if this is the only way, so be it!" Pulling a phaser from his belt, Picard proceeded to fire upon Data's collection.

"Captain, please, no! No, please! Captain, stop!" No matter how hard Data tried, he couldn't make Picard stop destroying his treasures. He ran up to Picard to block him – and that's when Picard saw the drawing. "Captain, no!" Data cried, but Picard raised his phaser and blasted the drawing to pieces.