More Than a Lifetime #3: Graduation

Chapter 5: Summertime

Standing on the Academy's athletic field, Dani smiled inwardly. She would have smiled outwardly, had she not been in the middle of a graduation ceremony. Her eyes darted over to Adm. Camden. He was still droning on about the Academy and Starfleet in general.

Dani, in the meantime, drifted back to the summer after her freshman year at the Academy. She had ended up going to the Enterprise with Will that year. It had turned out that her field training assignment had, in fact, led her there, not without a little help from her parents, Will, and others, Dani suspected.

xxx

When Dani materialized on the transporter pad in one of the Enterprise's transporter rooms, Will was waiting for her.

"Permission to come aboard, sir," Dani said, keeping with protocol.

"Get off that transporter pad and come over here," Will ordered with a smile.

A smile formed on Dani's own face as she stepped off the pad and walked over to Will. She wrapped her free arm around his neck and gave him a kiss and a hug, which earned an amused look from the transporter technician.

Dani hesitated to show any additional affection. Will picked up on her discomfort and asked the tech to give him and the cadet a moment. The tech complied and promptly left the transporter room.

"Does anyone know I'm supposed to be coming here?" Dani asked, regarding her stay on the Enterprise.

"Everyone knows," Will replied.

"The captain?"

"He was the first," Will said. "Come on; I'll show you to your quarters."

Will and Dani left the transporter room. The transporter tech who had beamed Dani aboard was waiting dutifully outside the door. Riker nodded to him, giving him permission to re-enter, as he and Dani left.

Dani and Will continued with the conversation they had been having in the transporter room.

"You can't possibly believe that Captain Picard initially agreed to this," Dani said.

"Why wouldn't he?" Will asked. "You're currently ranked #1 in your class. You've got oodles of experience. And you're going to make someone, hopefully him, an excellent officer in a few years."

"And the fact that you wanted me onboard with you had absolutely nothing to do with it?"

"Just what are you implying, Cadet?" Will asked in a mock command tone.

"Nothing," Dani responded. "Nothing at all." She and Will rounded a corner and stepped into a waiting turbolift.

xxx

"Welcome to your home for the next three months," Will said, presenting Dani's quarters to her. She stepped in. The room was considerably larger than her room back at the Academy. It was one large room with areas sectioned off for the beds, dining table, and sitting area.

Beds. Bunked beds. That meant she'd be sharing the room with someone.

When Will saw Dani's eyes wander over the beds, he knew that she'd figured out that she'd have a roommate, so he answered the question that he knew was going to come out of her mouth next.

"Emma Shale," Will said.

"What?!" Dani shrieked, turning to face Will. "She's my roommate?" Will merely nodded. Dani shook her head. "No. Not in a million years."

"Dani-"

"You know the hell I've been through with her. Why in the world are we being assigned to the same quarters?"