Charlee POV


After Data said his goodbyes and walked away, I tried to open the door to my room but it didn't open like any door I'd ever seen. After frustrating and fruitless minutes of me trying to open this seemingly impossible door it sprang open. I jumped back in shock and looked around to see that Worf had pressed his hand to the wall panel next to the door.

"Here. You put your hand onto this part of the wall and it will either open or chime depending on whose room it is." He explained. Then he closed the door and motioned for me to try. I, hesitantly, put my hand on the black square that was on the wall and the door immediately opened. I turned to Worf with, what I knew to be, the biggest and goofiest smile on my face.

I quickly walked into my room and beckoned for Worf to follow me. Slowly, I looked around and I began to get anxious again. There was nothing familiar about anything. It felt like I had entered a sci-fi film set.

"Are you hungry? Thirsty?" Worf asked as he watched me take in the alien room. I wasn't very hungry or thirsty but I didn't know how to get either of those things when Worf left so I nodded my head and looked around with a confused look on my face.

"Here." He said as he walked over to what looked like a double-stack oven on the opposite side of the room. Next to what looked like a dining/living area. "You type in the code for whatever you what and the Replicator will create it for you." He explained. I went to the oven-looking thing and saw that it had a display on it. The display had numbers and then an item listed next to that number.

"Watch." He said as he typed in 001 and then took a small step back. Underneath the display screen a light blinked on and the oven-thing made a strange noise before a glass of water appeared where the light had blinked on and where I would have put a dish into a regular oven. I picked up the glass of water and sniffed it before I took a small sip. It was cool and refreshing and didn't have any nasty mineral after-tastes, unlike regular tap water.

"You can do that for just about every kind of food. I recommend only eating things you know before you try something new. Some of the recipes in the ship's computers are inedible for Humans." Worf went on to explain. I nodded my head in understanding before I stepped closer to the oven-thing and swiped through some of the codes the screen displayed.

While I did this, I put the glass of water back onto the niche in the center to free my hand. The light blinked back on and then the oven made a different noise and the glass of water disappeared. I took a step back in surprise and almost ran into Worf. He chuckled at my response and began another explanation.

"Very good! You figured out how to take care of excess food and dirty dishes. Don't worry the first time I used a Replicator I had a similar reaction. Most Human technology takes some getting used to." He looked at a small device in his hand before he faced me again. "Unfortunately, I must be going now. I have a shift on the bridge tomorrow and I need to return to my quarters if I want to be able to get enough sleep. I'll show you how to turn the lights on low before I go." He said as he began to walk towards the door.

I began to feel a slight panic that when Worf leaves that I'll wake up from this bizarre and be back with Him. I rushed to Worf's side and held onto his arm with all the strength in my hands and fingers.

"It's alright, Miss Charlee. I'll be back tomorrow and I'll show you some more things around your room and maybe even take you on a small tour." He said to soothe my anxiety. I violently shook my head and dug my fingernails into his arm. Carefully, he removed my hands from his arm and moved us closer to the door.

"Watch. This is how you lock the door and turn the lights on low so that you can sleep. If you find that you still have trouble sleeping, type in this code and I'll know you need me to come in." He said in a low voice. As he said this he pointed to a button that had a lock on it, what looked like a dimmer switch, and the numbers 1 and 6. He then placed both of his hands around mine and made me look him in the eye.

"I won't let anything hurt you, Charlee. This I vow." He said in his deep voice. As I looked into his eyes I could tell that he meant it and his conviction and promise calmed my anxiety enough that I could release some of the tension held in my shoulders.

Worf watched the tension leave my shoulders and pulled away from me. He turned and began to walked out of the door and quickly moved through the corridor to the elevator looking thing. After the door closed I locked it and put my back against the door.

"I don't even know what year it is!" I thought. That seemed to jog more of my emotions out of place because I began to curl myself into a ball and cry. All the anxiety, terror, and pain I had been keeping at bay for the last month and a half began to pour from me in waves. A small part of me wondered if I would ever be able to stop crying.