Chapter 2

A chime sounded in William Riker's quarters as he was picking up the novel he'd been working on. Archaic, he knew, but there was just something about the way a good book felt in his hand that a data padd couldn't replace. He'd always been that way, but spending time with Captain Picard had only reinforced his attraction to old things.

"Enter." He called out.

Deanna walked in, carrying a 20th century style take-out bag. "Up for a little late dinner?" she asked with a sheepish smile spreading across her olive-skinned face. "I didn't realize that session with Ensign Beck had gone so long, though we did make some good progress."

Will smiled warmly as he gratefully took the take-out bag. Deanna really knew how to soften him up. His enjoyment of the antique was well known. "I'm always up for dinner with a beautiful woman." He replied smoothly. "But I'm also glad you made progress. Your tardiness is forgiven."

As he laid out the Chinese-style fare, Will expanded on the subject. "Ensign Beck provides me with something of a conundrum. Where to station her, where that phobia of hers won't present a problem, but her skills are put to good use. I've considered Comm, but according to her file, her xenolinguistics ratings… well, frankly, they're terrible! Any ideas?"

Deanna's smile grew, as if she'd only been waiting for him to ask. "Well, I was thinking more along the lines of Science. Her parents specialized in the field and she wants to as well. There's a pretty even mixture of men and women there and Commander Data should be a pretty safe neutral ground for her."

Nodding, Will thought about it for a moment. Deanna's plan slowly taking shape in his mind. "That should work," he said slowly, "as it'll help her to trust again, since there's no one so trustworthy as an android, and at the same time she'll give Data a look into another aspect of the human condition… better have a talk with him beforehand, though. We don't want him to accidentally alienate her with an innocently misplaced comment." Riker smiled, remembering Rigell 5.

Deanna's answering smile suggested that she was recalling the same incident… or one of the many other times Data's lack of comprehension of emotions had led to them getting into a delicate situation. The number of times did not even bear counting.

Deanna smiled one of her inscrutable smiles that always had him wondering just how devious that mind of hers really was. The other side effect of those smiles was that they never failed to heat his blood.

Putting down his chopsticks, Will moved around to her side of the coffee table. He removed the paper box from Deanna's hands and led her towards the bedroom.

Dinner would just have to wait.

After taking breakfast in her quarters (and still with no sign of her roommate), Melody set off for the conference room where the debriefing would be held. She was still feeling shaky from last night's revelations, so she took extra care with her appearance. Having always been an early riser, she had had plenty of time to braid her hair and tidy herself before leaving. And, since she didn't have to rely on the computer to navigate the corridors, Melody was the first to arrive. Taking a seat where she could see the entire room with no one behind her, Melody settled in to wait.

At 0700, Commander Riker strode into the room. Seeing Melody already in place, he smiled and nodded, but kept his distance, for which Melody was grateful. Trickling in after him in groups of two and three, the other ensigns joined them. By 0705, the last had arrived, the latecomers earning themselves frowns from the commander.

"Now that we're all here, let's begin, "announced Commander Riker, using the screen in front of him to bring up a list of topics on the screen in front of each ensign.

After two hours of slogging through rules, regulations, and other trivia of day-to-day life aboard the Enterprise, Commander Riker dismissed the group to either report to sickbay for their physicals or to their quarters to await the same.

Melody escaped to the corridor as quickly as she could and double-timed it towards sickbay. The rest of her group followed at a more leisurely pace. Once again, she made it to their destination first.

Entering sickbay, Melody looked around curiously. The facilities here looked even more advanced than at the Academy. Doctor Crusher was guiding some sort of shell over a groaning crewmember lying on a table at the far wall.

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Beverly was x-raying Leutenant Anders' ribcage when she noticed the petite blonde standing at the door. She pointed towards the waiting area on her left. "Could you please wait over there, Ensign? I'll be done here in a moment."

As she treated Anders for a fractured rib, Beverly watched the young woman waiting her turn in the corner. The girl waved her fellows over as they entered, but declined to speak to them or even to stand near them. One to watch, she figured, if she came in too regularly with injuries.

Finishing up, she gave Adams a light sedative to keep him quiet while the bone mending machine worked on him, and turned to the assembled ensigns.

"I'll take you in alphabetical order, please. Ensign Adams, come with me."

Leading the young woman to a curtained area, Beverly gave her her physical and then sent her out to send the next one in.

Beverly laid Melody down on the diagnostic table, while she lowered the shell over the girl. Tapping on the key pad, she read Melody's medical file and compared the notes to what the machine was telling her. The only inconsistency was quite a bit of pelvic scarring, consistent with a violent rape. Although it might be a touchy subject, she had to ask Ensign Beck about it, since nothing about a rape showed anywhere in her medical files.

"Ensign Beck, I show a good deal of scarring in your pelvic area. Do you know what happened to cause this?" Beverly asked her patient.

Melody's eyes got hard. "I believe Counselor Troi will have the information you request, Doctor Crusher." She recited in a formal monotone voice. "She has my full permission to disclose any details you require."

Beverly hit the release on the med shell and, with kind eyes, told Melody she was free. "And if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm almost always here." She offered.

Melody's eyes cleared and she made an attempt to smile. "Thank you, Doctor."

Melody returned to her quarters, ate lunch ,and reported to Ten Forward promptly at 1200 for the ship tour. She was met there by Commander Riker and then joined shortly by the rest of the ensigns. They began the tour by walking to the Bridge the long way so that those who hadn't already memorized the ship layout could learn the way.

Upon reaching their destination, Commander Riker introduced them to Captain Picard, an older gentleman with an upright bearing, but a nice smile on his face.

"Welcome to the Enterprise. I'm sure Commander Riker has given you all the talk you can stand, so I'll be brief. This is the bridge; that's my ready room; and this is my chair… Don't sit in it!" With a grin, the captain sat down and turned his attention back to running the ship.

Chuckling, Commander Riker led the ensigns around the bridge, introducing them to the various stations and the people manning them. Shortly, the other ensigns began to look dazed and confused, though Melody had no trouble keeping up.

After about an hour, the group left the bridge and headed for the Communications room, followed by the Transport Bay, where they met Lieutenant O'Brien, a saucy Irishman, who told horrible jokes and pretended offense when they all groaned.

Next on the agenda was Science, where Counselor Troi had said she would try to convince Commander Riker to station Melody. Entering the Science Lab, Melody was greeted with a welcome sight: machines, both familiar and new to her, graced the walls and tables. There were machines for analyzing animal, vegetable, mineral, and chemical specimens. There were machines for taking things apart and for fabrication, too. Melody was in heaven.

So entranced was she by her surroundings that she almost missed Commander Riker's first words.

"This is our Science Lab, which Lieutenant Commander Data, here, will tell you about… Remember, Data, we only have an hour here."

Melody snapped back to attention at that. She almost hadn't noticed the man standing beside Commander Riker. It was the oddly-colored man she had seen on her way to Counselor Troi's office! And he was looking at her with what could have been amusement on his face. He'd obviously noticed her fascination with the machines of the Science Lab. Melody blushed.

Surveying the new ensigns, Commander Data welcomed them to his domain. "Here in the Science Lab, we take specimens and samples from our away teams and analyze them. We also do surface scans and handle biological and chemical contaminants and try to ascertain the purpose and inner workings of any technology brought to us."

He then took the group on a tour of the lab, giving a brief explanation of the purpose of each one. Melody listened with rapt attention, especially to his descriptions of the more unfamiliar machines.

Finishing up, Data told a science joke. The other ensigns blinked at him, confused, while Melody chuckled quietly. The one about the interface probe and the Cardassian was really funny…

" I hope to get a chance to work with some of you during your stay on the ship." Data ended. Melody had the distinct impression that he was speaking to her.

Following Science, the group was ushered around to Engineering, to meet Lieutenant Commander Jeordi LaForge, Sickbay, to get the tour from Doctor Crusher, and Security, to meet the rather imposing klingon, Lieutenant Commander Worf, who terrified her. Not being particularly interested in Sickbay or Security, Melody only paid enough attention to memorize the important parts, though she paid better attention to Lt. Commander LaForge's words, as Engineering and Science were closely connected.

Melody noticed that, as they toured the ship, Commander Riker did his best to buffer her from the men they came across, while managing to keep his distance. Thankful, Melody rewarded him with a weak smile when he looked her way.

After the tour, the entire group went to Ten Forward for supper. Melody attempted to escapeto her quarters, but, at a warning glance from the commander, she resigned herself to enduring more time among people. Eating quickly, however, Melody did manage to make it to a quiet corner before she broke down.

Sitting in a booth at the edge of the room, Melody made herself breathe deeply and calm down as her peers finished their meals.

When everyone was finished, Commander Riker waved them all in closer. Melody positioned herself at the edge of the group, where she would still be able to hear clearly.

"Okay, everyone, now that you all have a pretty good idea of the layout of the ship and what goes on and where, I'm going to give you each your assignments. These are subject to change, so please check your messages frequently. I will be open to suggestions and opinions regarding your posts, although it's within my rights to disregard them. Some of you may have stationary schedules, while others rotate. We want to try to match everyone up with a specialty that suits their particular interests, skills, and needs. That isn't going to happen immediately for most of you. Please be patient and help both me and yourselves by communicating with me. Now, let's begin.

Ensign Adams, you'll start off in Engineering. Report to Lt. Commander LaForge's office at 0800. Ensign Alvarez, you will start out in Security. Report there at 0700. Ensign Beck, Science. 0900. Ensign Dean, Security, 0700…" Two other ensigns were assigned to Science before Riker was finished.

Once everyone had their assignments for the next morning, Melody attempted to escape to her quarters. Commander Riker caught up with her in the corridor.

"Ensign Beck, a word, please." Melody stopped and turned to face her commanding officer, leaving plenty of space between them. "Ensign Beck, you are also to spend a minimum of two hours per week in session with Commander Troi. She will contact you with a schedule of appointments. You will regard that schedule as if I gave it to you and honor your appointments. That is all." Commander Riker moved off down the hallway, leaving Melody's thoughts roiling. While she was relieved that the commander seemed to understand and respect her need for space, she really didn't want to be forced into counseling sessions.