Star Trek Enterprise - Fate Ch. 09

The next day, true to his word, Archer spoke with Admiral Forrest advising him on the incident and giving his recommendation that Danaë remain on board as a permanent crewman. This was no easy sell. The admiral was impressed with the way she had rescued the captain, but this woman's background was questionable to say the least. To allow her into Starfleet without following the proper channels was something that ran contrary to regulation, but such things could be overlooked. Hoshi had proven this when Archer re-enlisted her despite having been dishonorably discharged for running a floating poker game and breaking the arm of an instructor. She was still the top of her field which made her indispensable during Enterprise's first mission and she continued to be.

What was in Danaë's favor was that Admiral Forrest trusted Jonathan Archer's judgement. When the captain assured him that she had a fire in her belly and was willing to lay everything on the line for Starfleet, his word was not questioned. Yet, as intriguing as this pitch was, the admiral would not agree to anything until he find out what this young woman was capable of for himself. For one full day she answered question after question regarding earth history as well as Starfleet regulation and protocol followed by rigorous testing on warp engine principles, theories that ranged from the first warp engine built for the Phoenix to the Henry Archer's Warp-5 engine. Curious to see how far she could go he began to throwing questions at her from the officer's exams which she answered with little hesitation. When it was over it was clear that while she was no longer the ace student, she still managed to perform exceedingly well.

The following day she was told to meet with Commander Tucker for a practical applications test. He had been sent a series of tasks that she had to be able to complete. On his own he threw in a few additional trials because he found that things seldom went as scripted and he wanted to see how she would behave and work under pressure. She never faltered. There were even a few times when she was able to show Trip a trick he was unaware of. At the end of day two it was certain that she had retained most the information learned in her youth.

After two days of testing, Admiral Forrest was nearly convinced and ready to offer her a commission. His only qualms was that he wanted to verify that she was physically fit and could handle herself. He read enough of Captain Archer's reports to know that the crew was constantly finding themselves in challenging situations, from other species as well as the elements. Dr. Phlox was more than willing to sign off her physical wellbeing, He had run enough tests on her when she arrived that he was positive she was healthy.

It fell to Lt. Reed to evaluate her abilities with weapons as well as hand to hand combat. Though he remembered well the Klingon knife she carried, he was still a bit skeptical as to how well she could defend herself. He might have enjoyed the idea of engaging in a contact exercise with her in the beginning, but after she managed to lay in a couple of hard blows things got serious. Indeed, he found her to be a challenging opponent and was impressed with her technique as well as her ability to use her short stature to her advantage. In an attempt to show off his skill Lt. Reed upped the ante and came at Danaë full force. In the same instant her style changed which caught him off guard making it possible to bring him to the ground, causing him instant pain and regret.

"What the hell was that?" He asked as she helped him up.

"Mok'bara, it's a type of Klingon martial arts. Are you going to be okay?" She suddenly felt bad looking at the way he was still catching his breath.

"Where did you learn Klingon martial arts?"

"An officer on my father's ship taught me. His name was Lt. Worf and he was the chief of security when I was a child. He would give Mok'bara martial arts classes and I started attending them when I was about 6. When he transferred to a space station he left me a program on the holodeck that continued the lessons as I got older." She explained.

"You had a Klingon as chief of security?" Malcolm had some experience with Klingons, but from what he had seen, he couldn't imagine one in Starfleet, let alone in charge of security.

"Yes we did. He was a damn fine officer too. In the interest of maintaining good health I would never advise questioning his courage, honor or integrity. However, you could not find a more loyal or honorable man." She handed Malcom a towel and his bottle of water.

"You'll have to teach me some of those moves." Lt. Reed answered then quickly drank down some water.

"Anytime.

"Next I need to test your weapons knowledge and ability down in the armory, but first I need a couple of minutes to recoup." He sat down on a bench and wiped sweat from his face with a towel.

"Do you remember the other day when you invited me to join you for movie night? I don't suppose that offer is still good?" She asked. He looked at her in surprise. "As friends of course." She quickly amended as she picked up her own water bottle and sat down next to him on the bench.

"Yeah." He smiled brightly at her. "I have no idea what Commander Tucker has picked out, but it should be fun."

The two talked at length about self-defense and different types of martial arts. Lt. Reed was well versed in each earth style and was eager to learn more from other species. Danaë not only knew Mok'bara but had learned some of the finer points of the Vulcan martial arts of Suus Mahna and Tal-shaya from a Vulcan teacher during her travels on earth. Though she never learned to be as proficient at it as she might have hoped, she had a great appreciation for the art. Being able to defend yourself was a skill that had proved essential during her travels on earth and on occasion she had been in situations when it probably saved her. Malcom rose from the bench and held out his hand to help her up.

"Let's get your weapons test over with. I suspect I already know whether you'll pass or fail, but protocol is protocol." His assumption proved to be correct. She was at least as good a shot as he was, possibly a bit better. Had she been able to use her own phaser, the scores might have been higher.

After all the testing was done there as a final meeting with Admiral Forrest. He was quick to tell her how impressed he was at how well she performed. As anticipated she was offered a position in Starfleet and would be remaining on board the Enterprise primarily in the engineering department. She would be considered an 'extra man' as it were, filling in wherever they needed her until a more permanent position could be determined. Her rank was still under discussion with Captain Archer, though her natural assumption was that she would begin as an Ensign.

She was assigned to new quarters just on the other side of the wall from Travis Mayweather and she wasted no time in packing up her belongs and moving in. The room was rather small with a single twin bed surrounded by shelves, a small desk with a computer, and a chair with a table. It did have its own private bathroom which was something of a luxury on this ship. Strange she would have that amenity as an ensign. The size of the room didn't bother her in the slightest. It had been a long time since she had had any real room of her own. The only thing she was disappointed about was that there were no windows, but she could make do with the ones in the mess hall.

A thousand thoughts ran through her mind as she unpacked her few meager belongings. In as much as she loved this opportunity, she knew there was also an element of difficulty that she would have to struggle with every day that the others would rarely have to face. She had no way of knowing everything that this ship and its crew would face in the future, but there were a few things. The Prime Directive still had yet to be written, but it would have to be the absolute law by which she would need to govern the rest of her life. She could not contaminate this time with the technology she had brought with her and, hardest of all, she could not give warnings about events she knew to be coming, like the Earth-Romulan War. In her memory she could hear her father's words, History has proven again and again that whenever mankind interferes with a less developed civilization, no matter how well intentioned that interference may be, the results are invariably disastrous. She placed her 24th century PADD and phaser into the box that held her bottle Chateau Picard. She started to put her modified tricorder into the box as well, only to stop. There was a far better place for this.

She put on one of her new uniforms and slipped the device into one of the pockets. Looking at herself in the mirror she smiled as she saw the red piping signifying that she was in the operations division. Somehow as a child when she had imagined herself putting on the uniform of Starfleet, this had not been the one she expected. She carefully bound her hair back into a chignon, allowing a few stray curls to frame her face, then placed a carved bone comb into the French pleat. The comb had been a gift from her father on her eighteenth birthday and was carved from the bone of an animal called a herensuge on the planet Anoushka and was inlaid with beautiful blue gems. He had never told her much about it other than an old woman gave it to him specifically for his child. She once more peered at her reflection and thought about all the things that had happened in the last few days.

"I suppose resistance is futile." She affirmed rather cheekily. Over the comm system the announcement was given that the night's movie would begin in 30 minutes. "It's time."

The mess hall was packed as crewmen watched Bob Hope being thrust into the role of a western hero in the movie 'The Paleface'. Danaë sat comfortably between Lt. Reed and Dr. Phlox. She wasn't sure which was more entertaining, the movie or the good Doctor's constant chatter and observations. Just as the movie heroes were rumbling along in the back of a covered wagon with Bob Hope playing the accordion and singing 'buttons and bows', Danaë's attention was broken by a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Captain Archer behind her.

"I hate to interrupt your first movie night but I need to see you privately for a moment. He pointed to the captain's mess and with a quick polite 'excuse me' Danaë followed.

"I don't officially start until tomorrow, so I have to wonder what I've done." She asked nervously as the door shut and she stood perfectly still at attention.

"No, nothing like that. I need to present you with something." He reached out and pinned two silver pips just above the red piping on the left side of her uniform. "You are now officially a Starfleet Lieutenant." He said with a friendly smile. Danaë looked at him in surprise.

"A Lieutenant? I thought at most I might be an Ensign."

"Admiral Forest thought he could trip you up by asking you questions from the officer's exam and instead you passed." He looked over this new addition to his crew with satisfaction. "The uniform suits you."

"I think I like it better than the one my father will wear," She answered proudly. "At least mine has pockets. Which reminds me, I have something I need to give you."

She reached into her pocket and took out her precious modified tricorder. "This is what I used to hack into the Suliban system and control their Helix and ships. It's the same one I used to hack my father's files, the counselor's files, the food replicator and possibly the academy's student files. I may have also used to it access your ships files so I could learn the Suliban's weakness." Archer stared at her with a look of amazement. "This is a fresh start and I want there to be no question of my integrity. Lock it up in a safe place. Hopefully it can remain retired, but if the need arises you can always give it back." He took the device and started to put it down on the table only to realize one of the wires was caught on his sleeve. He started to try and untangle it, but found it difficult with one hand. Danaë stepped forward and started helping him get the wire lose. As it came free she looked up and realized she was standing against him, their faces only inches away. Both were aware of the growing interest between them and instinctively stepped away from each other leaving plenty of room.

"I hope that you and I can work together professionally without there being any tension or awkwardness between us." He said.

"Yes, of course, captain." She answered. They both looked at each other knowing that this was something they may yet have to confront, but neither was certain of the best way.

"You should probably get back to the movie, Malcom is probably wondering if you're coming back. I suspect he might like you." The captain teased.

"Malcolm is a friend only, I have made that clear. He just wants to learn some of my Klingon moves. If I don't hurry though, I'll miss the part where Jane Russell falls in love with Bob Hope." Danaë said quickly changing the subject and pressing the door button.

"I realize this time is very different from the world you are used to, but I hope you will adjust and find some happiness with us."

"I am happy captain." She assured him with a smile. "I get to be at the beginning of it all with you."

She quickly exited the captain's mess and returned to the darkness of movie night. It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves, she thought as she rejoined the crowd in the mess hall. What is my destiny, she wondered. As a child and in the academy she had been looking for her father's approval. As an adult backpacking across earth she had been looking for a way to escape all the wrongs she had caused. Now she was traveling on a star ship just beginning to explore the reaches of space. For the first time she felt a part of something.

"Is everything okay?" Dr. Phlox asked offering her popcorn and smiling his ever present smile.

"Everything is fine." She answered taking a few pieces of popcorn. "I just realized for the first time that I'm home."