Chapter Four.
The new Ensigns were lined up against the wall of Holodeck one which was in its preliminary grid form. Tarya scanned the line. There were eight new ensigns in total. She was suddenly snapped to attention by the booming voice of Commander Riker.
"Captain on the Holodeck!" Jean-Luc Picard wandered in and quietly assessed the new recruits. He was followed by Dr Beverly Crusher, Lieutenant Commander Data, Lieutenant Geordi La Forge and Deanna Troi, who proceeded to give a small nod to Tarya, who subtly reciprocated.
"At ease Ensigns." Commanded Jean-Luc Picard with a soft authoritarian tone, before loosening up slightly. "Welcome to your first posting aboard the USS Enterprise. It is an honour and privilege to serve aboard this ship with these fine officers." Quietly gazing down the line Tarya recognised they all knew this, in one way or another. The stories of this ship and crew littered the mouths of academy members, not necessarily all for noble deeds, but for the most part, they were admired by all. Even Tarya had come to recognise this during her time at the academy.
For the following few moments each Ensign walked up to their assigned head of department and introduced themselves. Tarya and Deanna stood at the end watching the others for a few moments since they had already taken the liberty of introducing themselves. "How are your quarters?" Mused Deanna.
"They are more than adequate, thank you." Deanna was desperate for her to be a bit more forthcoming. Tarya was beginning to fascinate her more and more. Had she not known better she would have thought she was asking Data the question.
"And your roommates?" Tarya wondered if this was some sort of a test. Was she meant to just muse as a 'friend' or psychoanalyse them for her? She thought she'd play it safe, right down the middle.
"They all seem fairly pleasant I suppose, we've not spoken huge amount. Toni is shy, a bit like me I suppose." She hoped that Deanna would appreciate that level of self-awareness. "B'Lanna, probably highly honourable, though a tough nut to crack and then there's Tom. He's very friendly, overtly so, and seems to be very sure of himself, though whether that is just a façade I can't tell. He may just be extremely eager to please. Hopefully he's not just arrogant." She continued to watch them all as she spoke. Deanna smiled at her, already planning a time to sit in ten forward and people watch with her.
"I'm glad you're settling in well." She simply said.
"I'll confirm whether that's true when today is over. I do seem to have a lovely commanding officer though." Deanna stroked her arm warmly and wandered back to where the command officers were beginning to gather. Will turned his gaze back to the Captain and they nodded knowingly to one another. The Captain returned his attention to the recruits.
"It was a pleasure to meet you all. We will now leave you in the capable hands of Commander Riker and Counsellor Troi." He turned to will. "All yours Will." Riker rubbed his hands together and smiled with glee.
"Thank you Captain." He paused as the Captain led the reminding officers out and turned back to his little flock for the day. "I bet you are all wondering what today is about. Orientation is a new idea. You are the first year to be trialling this. The powers that be decided that all too often new recruits spend several days, if not weeks, feeling awkward and insecure, when in reality, there's no need. In an attempt to lighten the transition they thought it would be fun to break you in gently, or perhaps harshly with, let's call it, fun and games." Tarya cringed 'Oh heck', she thought, 'please not a glorified, getting to know you icebreaking day. I'd honestly rather a day of tours, health and safety and regulation training'. She'd obviously lost control of her face within her thoughts. Riker snapped her out of it with a direct question.
"Is everything alright Ensign? Are you with us?" Her looked briefly turned to horror.
"Apologies Commander, My imagination couldn't help but run away with itself." She really hoped that hadn't come out as sarcastic as it sounded in her head. She was pleasantly surprised by the small smile she garnered in response. She was also amazed at how comfortable she felt here. She hadn't felt this relaxed in centuries. He continued.
"The Counsellor and I are going to be putting you through your paces today. Physically, mentally and personally. Hopefully, by the end of today's session we will all know one another better and you will be more equipped to start your shifts tomorrow... Task number one."
They all scanned the room as it transformed. It was beach on a beautiful day. The sky was blue and the water crystal clear. It was completely transparent, though, more of a pool really, a deep, sea like one. When looking into the depths they could see a shuttle craft. It looked like it had crash landed. Two of their comrades suddenly transported out of the room - or so they thought. Looks of concern suddenly shot amongst the remaining ensigns and Riker gave them their only instructions.
"Your crew members have crash landed on an unknown planet. They are trapped in the shuttle and have one hour of air remaining." Tarya sighed in relief; 'okay' she thought, 'at least it was going to be an interesting day.' B'Lanna turned to Commander Riker.
"We have no instruments, if this is an unknown planet how are we meant to know whether we can just wade into the water or not?" Riker simply zipped his lips in response. A small, blue, slit faced Bolian, who appeared to be a medical officer attempted to calm her down.
"It's okay. I think we just have to use what we have." B'lanna wasn't impressed.
"What are you taking about? We have nothing," she replied harshly. The Bolian looked around intently as Tom Sniggered. "What are you laughing about?" Snapped B'lanna.
"Oh nothing, I just don't see why you are getting so worked up. It's just a game."
"In games you win and lose. I do not want to lose."
"Then start thinking rationally." He squared up to her as he spoke. B'lanna held his gaze for a moment before relaxing slightly and moving away. Tarya, trying to ignore them, was thinking of what they could actually do. In reality she could just swim to them. She paused in thought, trying to determine how far human could swim underwater, how deep and how long. She noticed Toni also trying to figure out a plan of action.
"Toni! Could you reach them by swimming?" He thought for a moment and looked down. It looked to be around ten meters below the surface.
"Technically it should be possible but, honestly, I'm not a strong enough swimmer". Tarya sighed. Okay so it seemed doable, but the last thing she wanted to do in any scenario was take control. Everyone just seemed to be looking around, pondering, but there was nothing else to see. There was literally just sand, sky, water, them and the shuttle. There wasn't even anything else below the water. No trees, not even a rock. They had nothing but themselves. She needed to throw it out there.
"Can anyone swim well?" They all looked at her.
"It's too deep… is it not" Replied an ensign in red. They all looked tentatively over the edge.
"It may look deeper than it is" said Tom. "On the other hand... it could look shallower." Tarya rolled her eyes.
"I'm going in!" Exclaimed Tom. All eyes turned to him. "I can at least see if I can get there."
"What are you going to do when you get down there?" Said the red shirted ensign.
"Well if I can reach it I could just open the door?"
"What about the pressure?" Said B'lanna.
"That doesn't matter." Tarya shared. It was all eyes on her now, confused. "Tom is right, it's just a game. We are on the Holodeck. The safety protocols will be on and they won't allow anyone to die." Riker and Deanna shared a glance. This wasn't quite the way they were meant to treat the exercise, but they also weren't wrong.
"I guess it's thinking outside the box, literally." She whispered to Will. He just sighed.
"I'll have to think about the next game. See if I can tweak it somewhat. Maybe I'll just change it entirely. What's the point in sending them up a mountain if they aren't afraid to fall?" His mind was working on overdrive. He did not want them to think like this all day. By the time they had stopped talking Tom was at the bottom of the 'sea' and he'd opened the hatch. The two ensigns waited for the water to start filling the shuttle before rising to its top, then they all swam to the surface triumphant.