Chapter Six

Riker marched Ensign Williams to the Bridge. He hadn't uttered a single word the entire journey. It had been the most uncomfortable turbolift ride of Tom's entire life. His stomach knotted as they exited onto the Bridge. Captain Picard stood and turned to face them. He instantly saw the anger and irritation on Riker's face.

"Number one. Is there a problem?"

"You could say that Sir. May we speak in your ready room?" The remaining bridge officers exchanged uncertain glances, but quickly moved back into position up hearing the Captain reply.

"Of course." Picard gestured and led the way to his ready room. The Captain took a seat. He didn't even bother to offer refreshments knowing his Commander was venting to speak, but he did offer them seats to which they both sat, but Riker looked as though he'd have preferred to pace around instead. "Number One." Picard softly spoke. "What is going on?"

"I… honestly I am stumped. I'm not sure how I should proceed or what action I need to take. You know me Captain. I've dealt with all the new recruits for years now and years prior to being on the Enterprise. Never have I ever been in a position whereby I'm unsure on how to proceed." The agony of his mixed emotions was plain to see - and hear.

"Commander. What has happened? And why have you brought an Ensign with you?" Riker realised this was probably highly inappropriate but it needed to be sorted out and quickly. He couldn't even figure out where to start or how exactly things had escalated from finding a Vulcan to lap dancing.

"Sir, we were completing an orientation exercise…"

"Commander, if I may?" The faces of both the Captain and the Commander conveyed their shock at this Ensigns interruption and forwardness, but Riker nodded. Curious to hear what on Earth he thought he could say and, if he was honest, grateful that he didn't have to try and figure his own point.

"It's my fault entirely. I got carried away. I don't know if I got swept up in the moment or perhaps even thought of it as an interesting game… I'm assuming Commander Riker is concerned with the fact that I pretty much took control of my team and placed them in a dubious position. I may as well have directly ordered another Ensign to perform a sexual act in order to garner information, which I suppose left her extremely vulnerable. Prior to that I think I over exerted my authority. It was not intentional." Riker interrupted.

"But none the less it happened, Ensign, and you didn't even stop to think or to consider what was happening, or bother to confer with your team." Picard looked deeply concerned.

"Did you have any rationale Ensign? Other than you were carried away?" Tom rubbed the sweat of his forehead and pondered for a moment.

"When I found out I was joining the Enterprise I reviewed many of your mission logs. I knew that on many occasions you went to extreme lengths to get what you needed, officers often went above and beyond their call of duty as well."

"Enough Ensign!" Riker insisted. "In order for what you just did to be even remotely acceptable, it would have had to have been a life or death situation or of extreme importance, or in a lesser sense, that officers choice – unless of course they had no other option due to outside coercion or so on… We would never ever expect an officer to place themselves in such a position. If it came down to something to save a life or such, it would also be agreed upon beforehand. It would be an extremely rare eventuality too." He went quiet, lost as to what else to say.

"I see your predicament Number One." He turned back to Tom.

"Ensign, go to Ten Forward. Eat something. Do not move from that location until one of my commanding officers comes to find you."

"Yes Sir." Tom stood and nodded to both the Captain and Riker before quickly removing himself from their presence.

"My God Will, tell me more of what happened. What did you see?" Riker deflated and rested his head in his hand, running his hand through his hair.

"Jean-Luc, he'd really stepped up in the first challenge and seemingly did so in the second. I gave him the opportunity to lead the team. He seemed so proud. That cohort of Ensigns are quite good at reasoning and thinking outside the box." He trailed off for moment. Picard handed him a Tracian Ale, Riker didn't even question it. Just gave an appreciative nod before continuing.

"The mission started off fairly well, he was giving orders and then he split them into two teams based on who they bunked with. It was when they were seated at the table discussing their next option, that he suddenly became overly authoritative. I don't even know how to describe it. One of the Ensigns had an epiphany. She was overtly loud, but he stood and grabbed her harshly, pushing her back down to her seat. It rattled everyone. Later on they went to look for a Ferengi. Next thing you know he's grabbing another Ensigns arm and insisting she stay put. It was at this point the Ferengi had asked for someone to rub his ears to sweeten the deal." Picard visibly shuddered. It was never a pleasant thing to visualise a Ferengi and anything to do with their ears. Riker continued.

"First the Ferengi looked to the one Ensign to fulfil his request. She was the one who potentially would have taken a violent exception but Ensign Williams shut down her immediately by restraining her. That in its self wouldn't have been too bad. The Ferengi then turned to the other female. She just seemed a bit lost or unsure. She looked to her commanding officer for guidance and he simply nodded affirmatively. Next thing you know she's rubbing his ears, then the Ferengi pulled her onto his lap and began fondling her. This is when I ran to step in, but just as I arrived Ensign Williams pulled her off and pushed her away whilst demanding the Ferengi honour his part of the deal. It was just so fast and… I just don't know what to do. It was only meant to be more of a challenge - orientation. Does this officer have the potential to be a great one and I just placed him in an unfair position by putting him in situation that was too much? Did he just get carried away in a game, or did it actually shine a light on an undesirable trait in his character that needs to be watched? Should he even be held accountable, possibly court-martialled…"

"Will! Will, Will. Stop." The Captain gently quelled his spiralling thoughts. Let's just calm down and take the next step. Who is the Ensign that…?"

"Ensign Tarya."

"Where is she now?"

"Deanna took her away. I've seen neither since."

"Right, Good! Let Deanna speak to her, find out how she feels. This Ensign may have a lot to say, or not, and it could help decide on a course of action. Ensure Deanna has spoken to her and we'll take it from there." Will nodded in acknowledgement.

Deanna had led Ensign Tarya directly out of the Holodeck and straight to her office, automatically replicating an English Tea for her. She just sat their quietly sipping. Deanna took a moment to try and figure out where to start, but she didn't need too.

"I feel like such an idiot. I'm sorry Deanna." She was almost laughing as though she'd just tripped up on the bridge or something.

"What? You aren't an idiot, orientation, if nothing else, had shown that. What happened on the holodeck wasn't your fault."

"Oh stop it!" Tarya close to snapped, but Deanna allowed her. "Please don't treat me like a child. That was my choice and my fault, though I was naïve and stupid. Honestly Deanna, I had no idea that Ferengi and their ears… I just thought it was weird, or some sort of Joke the Commander had added to the programme ..." She trailed off at the thought of the rest. Then she laughed and shuddered at the thought. "To think I was practically giving him a lap dance… in front of everyone! Oh well." She sipped her tea. Deanna still couldn't read her, at all.

"Surely though when it dawned on you…. Well, it must have bothered you a bit – when he responded and groped you? Were you just going to allow him to continue?" Tarya kept sipping her tea, she knew she must look unnerved, but she couldn't think of anything to say. Yes she had felt uncomfortable, yes she had been disgusted, but did it honestly matter to her either way? She was so conflicted and it had happened now - move on. She felt Deanna's eyes burning into her and knew she needed to say something.

"Look, I don't know okay." Her mind was beginning to run away with her. She was losing control of how she was going to keep control. How many situations would she be in that meant her having to explain herself over and over? She'd barely been on the ship more than a day and all she seemed to be doing was getting probed. Would it be easier just to out herself? Confess to her subterfuge? Would it be easier sooner, rather than later? She couldn't keep it up forever anyway. What's the worst that could happen? She'd be thrown off the ship, out of Starfleet and have to start again. Did that really matter? She outwardly sighed and opened her mind. Deanna sat back in shock.

The emotions that Deanna could detect were all over the place, shame, guilt, fear… but there was something more, something bigger – a vastness and depth that she'd never experienced before. She missed a breath, but just before she could ask another question tears began to quietly flow from Tarya's face. Deanna moved to sit next to her and held her hand.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I never meant to deceive anyone. Please believe me." Tarya cried through her tears and Deanna knew what she said to be true. She nodded understandingly.

"You're telepathic?" Tarya responded with nervous, snotty laughter.

"Sort of." She responded. "Deanna, I'm not even human." Deanna was shocked. But tried to hide it as best as possible and remain professional.

"Who are you?" Tarya pulled out a necklace from beneath her uniform. It was beautifully ornate. A silver chain with interwoven flowers and a drop tear ruby stone. Her eyes shone a bright blue and the stone began to glow. In her palm appeared a small knife. It didn't disturb Deanna in the slightest. She watched with curiosity.

Tarya took the knife to her left forearm and began to cut down, Deanna went to protest but she'd finished by the time she could even opened her mouth. Tarya removed a small disc from her arm and crushed it between her fingertips. Her body transformed. The wound almost instantly began to nit itself back together.

Sitting in front of Deanna was probably one of the most beautiful women she'd ever seen. Her skin was like porcelain and her hair a deep, silky flowing jet black. She looked into her eyes. They were mesmerizing - crystal clear with an almost metallic grey in the centre near her pupil that bled out into the iris. Her bone structure was enviable for any species. She was a lot older than her façade though, which did explain a few things, maybe around fifty years old. As Deanna studied further, she noticed a deep scar above her left eye, circumventing her eye brow and several other scars around her neck, almost indicative of ligature marks. Whoever this woman was she had seen and been through a lot.