Chapter 1
Kira Nerys stood on the Promanade, squinting at her commanding officer, Benjamin Sisko. He had called the entire crew of DS9 here for a meeting. They had only been told that it concerned a new officer coming onto the station.
Captain Sisko cleared his throat, aware of all the eyes on him. He took a deep breath. He wasn't exactly sure how the crew would react to this.
"Thank you all for being here today", he began. "Tomorrow, there will be a new officer coming onto the station. Her name is Lt. Heather Martinez….The only reason why I called this whole meeting is that she has some….well, problems. You'll understand when you meet her. But just, please, treat her with kindness and respect, just like you would treat any other officer. Thanks again". The meeting left one question lingering in everyone's mind: What sort of problems did this new officer have?
After the meeting, Kira met up with her friend Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax. "So what kind of problems do you think this Heather Martinez has?" Jadzia shrugged. "I don't know. Rumor has it that only Captain Sisko and Dr. Bishir know what kind of problems she has."
Kira pondered this as she walked back to her quarters. If Dr. Bisir knows, she thought, then it must be some kind of medical problem…but what? Oh well. She would find out soon enough.
The next day, Kira and Dax, along with Odo and Captain Sisko, met the new officer in the transporter room.. As she materialized, the image of her became clear, and also what was her "problem".
She was a young woman, maybe around twenty-five. She had brown hair with blond highlights, and pretty hazel eyes. But it was clear what her "problem" was. Her knees were bent at almost a 90 degree angle, and she leaned on a slim blue forearm crutch. She wore a wary smile, as if she wasn't sure how these people would react to her.
Of course, Kira found herself thinking. A physical disability…how could I have been so stupid? Captain Sisko took Heather by the hand and helped her off the platform. He gave her a warm, sincere smile.
"You must be Heather. I'm Captain Sisko. This is Security Chief Odo, Major Kira, and Lt. Commander Dax." Heather shook each of their hands. "Pleased to meet you." She said in a soft voice. Then Captain Sisko led her off to sickbay for the usual medical checkup that newcomers to the station got. The rest of the team looked at each other in confusion, and a little embarrassment. But none of them quite knew exactly how to react to the newcomer that was Lt. Heather Martinez.