Chapter Two: Utopia Planetia

Caitlin rematerialized on a transported pad. She appeared to be in what looked like one of those small ships that are inside of bigger ships. What those little ships were called escaped her at the moment, but before she had time to ponder, she found herself face to face with somebody she recognized. She was standing less than two meters from Odo.

"Caitlin Barker I assume?" He asked in his usual gruff voice.

"Yes." She answered.

"Good take a seat over there with the other entrants." Odo gestured towards a group of other students to be.

Caitlin took a seat next to another girl, "What's your name?"

"I'm Juliana Troi." She said, "I just got whisked away from my bedroom by these two dorky guys who reckon I need an education on writing."

"That's exactly what happened to me." Caitlin said.

"What course are you doing?" asked Juliana.

"OFUST: DS9"

"Just the one?" she said, as if amazed. "I've got to do the OFUST: VOY course as well. You see I like writing crossovers, and often I have both casts on Deep Space Nine."

"Wow, you must be real talented. I never thought of writing crossovers. I mostly write just Deep Space Nine fics, but I like to put myself in the scene too you know."

"You have the hots for O'Brien too?"

Caitlin laughed, "O'Brien? No, just that sexy doctor."

Juliana laughed too, "I can see how he can be appealing. Do you ever write slash?"

"Sometimes," Caitlin answered honestly, "only if I can be the third party though."

"I'm a slasher, big time. I love writing O'Brien/Tom Paris fics, they make such a cute couple."

The whole thing seemed absurd to Caitlin, not sexy at all. Whatever floats her boat she thought.

Just then Odo spoke up as the little ship came to a stop, "We're here, this is Utopia Planetia."

The airlock at the back of the ship opened and they all stepped outside onto the grass. The air was so fresh and clean, and the color of the landscape could be seen as clearly at the horizon as right up close. The sun was out but was not so bright as to hurt their eyes.

"Right then," said Odo, "follow me."

The small group followed Odo into a large building. Caitlin noticed a small cabinet with golden model ships inside, looking almost like the ones Captain Picard used to have. It had been a long time since she had watched The Next Generation. They finally reached a hall which was already packed with newcomers.

Caitlin and Juliana sat on the end of one of the benches, one of the few free spaces left. Just then five high ranking Starfleet Officers walked into the room, to the front of the hall as the voices died and the hall fell silent.

One of them stepped up, "Hello, I am Admiral James T. Kirk, this is Admiral Jean-Luc Picard, Captain Benjamin Sisko, Admiral Kathryn Janeway and of course Captain Jonathan Archer. You should be familiar with all of us, but if you're not, that's okay, we're here to teach you."

Picard spoke up, "This University offers five courses, TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY and ENT. Some modules overlap for all courses, these include modules on Technology and Species Cultural History. Some however are unique to your own course, Shipping for example. Students studying more than one course will be required to do an add-on seminar for a special license to do crossovers."

"The course coordinator is Hellfire," Continued Sisko, "If you have any queries as to the contents of your course, or grievances, please bring them to her. Also be aware that the holodecks are available as a learning resource to any students wishing to test out a plot scenario. However, they are not available for recreational use until you have successfully completed your first year at OFUST."

Then it was Janeway's turn to speak, "Your field trips will consist of important locations. Many of you studying VOY will be expected to visit Talax and Ocampa, whereas those who are studying DS9 may find themselves visiting Ferenginar or Cardassia. Many locations, like Vulcan are a requirement for all students. You see where I'm going with this? If you don't then you'll soon find out."

Jonathan Archer was the last to speak to the bewildered gathering, "I'd just like to add that your belongings and all course material will be found in your quarters. Right, now we need to split you up into smaller groups so that you may be escorted to your quarters. Self-insertion writers, would you come over into this corner please. I think we'll have slashers and MPreg writers over here, exclusive lemon writers over here and… um… How about we put the Issues writers here, and the Not Work Safe authors over here. Perhaps we can have crossover writers over there and miscellaneous other writers over there." He finished gesturing directions, and then each group was assigned a guide.

Caitlin realized that she was not going to be sharing quarters with Juliana after all, which was a shame. They did have differences in fanfiction taste, but they could still exchange some raving reviews if they liked.

The dorm guide turned out to be an ex-student who graduated five years ago. Sito Vnhorri was her name. She quietly but quickly took them to their block, giving each student their deck and room number. Caitlin was to reside in C.3.b, whatever that meant.

Caitlin entered the turbolift and realized that there was no lift numbers. Confused, she asked Sito, "Um, how do I work the lift?"

"Just tell it which deck to take you to."

"Deck C, Please." Caitlin said aloud, causing the turbolift to beep and whiz her off two stories higher. This is just like in the program. She mused as the doors opened and she laid her eyes upon her floor for the first time.

Seems like a typical corridor from a starship. She realized, and she began walking down the lengthy path. The doors were rather spaced out, which seemed a little odd. 001… 002… 003… must be her door. She was just about to enter when her nose made firm contact with the solid tritanium panels in front of her. She was totally bewildered now. "Sito, the door won't open."

"Well you didn't expect it to just open on its own did you?"

Caitlin just stood there unable to say anything. "Say no more. I'll fix the problem." Sito said, looking almost exasperated. "Enter 003, authorization zeta-009."

"Sito, how did you know the code?"

"It's quite simple, all doors on this floor have a zeta coding, and the final code is the square of the door room."

"So anyone can work it out?" Caitlin said dismayed. "That's not very secure is it?"

"No, but your own room will be."

"How?"

"You will be required to set your own code which is to be used in combination with a retinal scan."

"A What?"

"The computer takes a scan of your eyes, and then you set your own code. Therefore in order for you to gain future access to your quarters, you need to let the machine scan your eyes, and say your code. If the two don't match, you don't get it. A retinal scan is as accurate as a fingerprint, so nobody can get in unless you invite them."

Caitlin finally reached her room and allowed the computer to scan her eyeballs, and set her code: J-BASH1R-4-EVA.

As she looked at the pile of books upon her bed, she felt total dismay. There was a form to fill out, to put in Hellfire's in-tray, wherever that was. The form was for final registration. The pile of books was endless, the map of Utopia Planetia looked like a maze, and the subject list horrified her.

Caitlin felt tired and listless, she needed some sleep. There appeared to be no source of food, but she was sure somebody would see to that in the morning. It was getting a bit late after all.

She changed into her Starfleet Issue pajamas and slipped into her bed. The warm covers invited her to doze off into a peaceful sleep, to temporarily forget that she was actually four centuries into the future, and in a place she recognized only from a television show. She fell asleep with the knowledge that TVs and other such things were probably museum pieces by now.