Just a not here, READ CHAPTER 2 OVER! I changed something near the ending, when Data first meets Skipper and Gilligan. I beg you to read it, otherwise you are going to be a bit confused!

Chapter 3

"You're gonna like the Professor," Gilligan said, continuing his constant rambling about his companions as he led Data through the jungle. Skipper trailed behind, wondering how Gilligan could have so much energy after falling out of a tree. But, then again, this was Gilligan he was thinking about.

"The Professor is real smart. He's the smartest on the island! He seems to know about everything! Like this one time, there was some sort of ocean current that could get us off the island, and he knew how long it would stay and what type of raft we should build!"

"Really?" Data asked, interested. "How did he find this information if you are all stranded on this island?"

"I dunno," Gilligan said. "Radio?"

"No, Gilligan," Skipper said, exasperated. "Didn't you hear? He got it from the temperature of the water in the lagoon, or something like that."

"Intriguing..." Data said. "I shall have to ask the man myself when we arrive," he concluded.

"And then there's Mary Ann," Gilligan continued. "She's really sweet, and she makes the best coconut cream pie in the world!"

"Would that not be an exaggeration?" the android asked. "There cannot be a 'best in the world' of anything, because humans have different tastes. Often–"

"Well, Mister Data," Skipper cut in, "I believe he means that Mary Ann's coconut cream pie is the best he's ever had."

"Ah."

Now it had grown silent. It seemed that Gilligan had run out of things to say, and they weren't even halfway to the camp yet, according to Skipper. No one had anything to say.

Finally, Skipper asked, "What starship did you supposedly serve on? I've never seen a uniform like that!"

"The Enterprise."

"The Enterprise, huh," Skipper said. Under his breath he murmured, "He could easily have hit his head, picking a name like that!"

"Are you referring to the many different ships that have been christened as Enterprise?" Data asked.

Skipper looked startled; he didn't think the man would actually hear what he said! "Y-yes," he stammered. Deciding he could find out more about the man, he asked, "Which one did you serve on?"

"NCC-1701-D, USS Enterprise," Data said.

Skipper shook his head. "I've never heard of that ship! You'd think I would."

"It has not yet been assembled."

"Oh."

Gilligan looked back at Data and asked, "What is a starship, anyway?"

"A starship is a spacecraft designed to carry a crew into interstellar space."

"Boy, I wish I knew how to speak that language!" Gilligan exclaimed.

"I am speaking plain English," Data said, confused.

"Could you be plainer?"

"How so?"

"Use not-so-big words," Gilligan said.

"As you wish," Data said with a nod. "A starship is a type of spaceship that is made to carry people through space."

Even Skipper seemed impressed with this, though he still didn't buy the story.

As they moved down the small path through the jungle, Data continued to gaze out at the foliage, analyzing the physical properties of the plants and making visual measurements of the different bushes and trees. When he saw a blossom, a small, almost unnoticeable smile tugged at his lips. To anyone who didn't know him, it would seem that Data was enjoying himself. In a sense, he was, though he didn't realize it himself, always pushing away the thought on the account of not having an emotion-chip.

Suddenly, Gilligan cried, "We're here!" He ran straight through the bamboo stalks that bordered a wide clearing. Skipper rolled his eyes and pushed aside the brush for Data to walk through.

"Thank you," he said plainly.

Skipper just nodded, went around to the nearest hut, and disappeared into the door after Gilligan, all the while keeping his eyes trained on the android.

Data stared in awe at the large clearing, bordered by lush foliage and bamboo. Four palm frond huts sat just a few yards apart from each other, and in the very center of the camp sat a long table that could seat eight people.

In front of one of the huts was a bamboo lounge chair covered by a plain cushion. It was the largest, by far, and the double bamboo doors were covered by an orange drape.

The hut that Skipper and Gilligan had entered was as plain as can be, with absolutely no decoration or item that made a statement about its inhabitant.

Data walked to the table and sat down on one of the benches that lined it. He heard the muffled voices of Skipper and Gilligan, mingled in with the voice of another man. Before he could get a chance to figure out what they were saying, the door swung open and out walked the Skipper.

"Mister Data," he called, motioning to the android.

"Yes?" Data asked.

"I told the Professor about how you got on the island," Skipper told him.

"And?"

"He'd like to give you an examination."

"But I am—" He never got a chance to finish, cut off by the Skipper grabbing his arm and pulling him into the Professor's hut.

The inside of the hut was filled with crude scientific equipment. In the back was a large closet-like cabinet, and beside that was a small bamboo cot. Gilligan sat, looking thoroughly dejected, in the corner on the floor. Another man, presumably the Professor, was looking through a large stack of textbooks on the table in front of the window.

"Professor," the Skipper said.

"Yes, Skipper?" the man asked.

"I've brought in Mister Data," he finished.

"Oh! Have him sit on the bed over there!" The Professor let out an "Ah," as he pulled out a book from the middle of the stack. Somehow, it remained standing.

"You may call me Data, if you wish," the android offered to no one in particular.

"Alright," the Professor said. "You may call me Professor. Pleased to meet you, Data!"

"And you as well."

The Professor tried to hide his astonishment at Data's ghost white skin. He walked over and took the android's wrist to check his pulse.

"How have you felt since you arrived on the island?" the Professor asked. "Pulse seems normal..." he murmured.

"I can feel nothing," Data said.

"Nothing?" Skipper asked. "How could you feel nothing?"

"It is not that I have gone numb, it is that I am not capable of feeling anything," the android explained.

"You poor man," Skipper repeated, with genuine sympathy.

Gilligan opened his mouth to say something, but Skipper shot him a warning glare, making him shrink back against the wall.

The Professor ignored that statement made by Data and asked, "How are you?"

"I am operating within normal parameters."

"Huh?" they all chorused.

Data's golden eyes looked around at the three. "I am fine," he corrected.

The Professor nodded and felt Data's skull for any bumps. "Strange..." he murmured.

"What, Professor?" Skipper asked, worried.

"If he hit his head hard enough to have a concussion, I can't tell it!" he exclaimed.

Gilligan's eyes widened and he looked pleadingly at Skipper, who firmly shook his head, "No!"

"But Skipper!" he protested anyway.

"No, Gilligan!" Skipper bellowed. "I told you not to say a word, didn't I? That means to close your mouth and be quiet!"

It was then that Data happened to turn his head and see what Gilligan was looking at.

"Skipper?" he asked, ignoring the Professor's plead for him to sit still.

"What is it, Data?"

"Gilligan is trying to tell you that there are two women staring in through the window."

"Two women staring—What?" The Skipper and Professor turned their heads simultaneously to see two young women, one with fiery red hair and the other with black pigtails.

"Mary Ann! Ginger!" the Professor scolded. "What do you possibly think you can accomplish by spying on us while I examine our guest?"

"Guest?" asked the beautiful redhead with a squeal of delight. "Does that mean he has a boat, too?"

"Oh!" the younger girl exclaimed. "We'll finally be rescued!"

"Don't get so excited, girls," Skipper began. "Even with Data here, we're still going to be as stranded as ever."

"What do you mean?" the black haired girl asked, deciding to move away from her window perch and walk in the door.

"He has no means of transportation, so there is no way to leave this island," the Professor explained.

"Who needs to get off of the island?" the redhead asked, slinking in through the door as if she were a model on a catwalk. "Not when such a handsome man just washed up."

Data looked around at all of the men. "To whom are you referring to?" he asked.

"You, silly!" she exclaimed. "I—"

"Ginger," Skipper started, exasperated, "why must you always flirt with the men who come to this island?"

"Hey, I come from Hollywood," Ginger said, breathlessly. "If you don't flirt, you don't get in pictures."

The black haired girl rolled her eyes, but grinned at her companion's antics.

"And may I ask why you were spying, Mary Ann?" Skipper asked.

"Oh, I was telling Ginger not to bother you guys," Mary Ann said. "She ran over here and I followed, and we both ended up at the window."

Ginger shot her a look, but said nothing.

"Why is Gilligan not saying anything?" Mary Ann asked, looking over at the boy with sympathy and worry.

"You mean you didn't hear?" the Professor asked in shock.

"It's not that we didn't hear," Ginger explained, "it's that we weren't paying attention."

"I was threatened," Gilligan answered for them. Skipper picked up his hat and made a motion like he was about to hit Gilligan with it, but the boy shrunk back and covered his head with his arms.

"See?" he said.

"Oh, Skipper, you really shouldn't be that hard on him!" Ginger exclaimed. "What could he have done, this time?"

"I believe it may be that they had an argument before I was brought into this hut," Data mused.

"That's exactly what happened!" the Skipper exclaimed.

"What about?" Mary Ann asked.

"I don't even know!" Gilligan exclaimed. Skipper shot him a warning glare, but that was wasted due to the fact his first mate wasn't even looking at him.

"Professor!" a woman's voice called out.

"Professor, my good man!" a man's voice followed.

Soon, the two entered the hut. Both were very smartly dressed with elaborate clothes and trinkets.

"Mr. and Mrs. Howell," the Professor greeted flatly. "Why are you here?"

"Well, I saw Skipper, Gilligan, and that man come in here, and then Mary Ann and Ginger, and I became indignant," Mrs. Howell explained, patting her short, permed hair. "After all, you didn't hand out any invitations!"

"Why would we hand out invitations if the Professor is just examining Data?" Skipper asked, annoyed at the couple's antics.

Before Mrs. Howell could answer, her husband cried out, "Egad, Lovey! That pendant is made of gold!"

"However can you tell that from such a distance, Thurston?" Mrs. Howell asked, slipping a pair of spectacles out from her sleeve. That was the first anyone had noticed the strange pendant on Data's uniform, with some form of insignia resting atop a golden oval and smaller than one's thumb.

"Lovey! I'm surprised! You, of all people, should know that a Howell can smell gold for miles! How do you think the California Gold Rush was started?"

"The California Gold Rush," Data began, "started when James Wilson Marshal discovered gold at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California on January 24, 1848."

"That's what you think!" Mr. Howell exclaimed. Data raised his eyebrows thoughtfully, moving his eyes back and forth as though he were reading an imaginary book.

"Mr. and Mrs. Howell!" the Professor exclaimed. "Ginger, Mary Ann! We don't have time for this! I would like it if I could just finish this examination; then, you can 'socialize' with Data."

Thank you for all of your reviews so far! I hope you all continue to review! Remember, I accept feedback. A lot of feedback. There are no limits to my mailbox! Anyway, hope you enjoyed!

Aingeal