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“Yes, Chief Engineer, I think I understand.” Picard looked at La Forge, then at Sonya.

And then it happened again. Sonya’s mouth took off at a full run before her brain knew what was happening, and the rest of The Speech—which had been cut off by La Forge telling her he knew her background—came pouring out.

“I just want to say, sir, that I’m very excited about this assignment, and I promise to serve you, and my ship—your ship—this ship—to the best of my ability.”

“Yes, Ensign, I’m sure that you will.” The captain didn’t sound in the least bit sure, and Sonya couldn’t really bring herself to blame him. You don’t call it “my ship” to the captain!

Turning to depart, Picard said, “Carry on.” Then he stopped, looked down at his right hand, and then offered the hot chocolate cup back to Sonya. Meekly, she took it, and the captain exited.

Never in her life had Sonya Gomez more wanted the earth to swallow her up. Except, of course, they were on a starship, so she’d have to settle for something else—a warp core breach, maybe?

“Oh, my—” She looked at La Forge, whose VISOR made it difficult to read his expression, which came to Sonya as something of a relief. “First impressions, right? Isn’t that what they say, first impressions are the most important?”

“I’ll give you this—it’s a meeting the captain won’t soon forget.”

La Forge walked off. Sonya stood there for several seconds. My career’s over.

In the time it took Sonya to return to her quarters and change into a fresh uniform, the entire engine room was alive with gossip. Several people referred to her as the hot-chocolate demon, everyone cringed when she walked near the replicator, and she overheard Cliff Meyers describing the spilling of hot chocolate as “the Picard Maneuver.” By the time the lunch break rolled around, Sonya was about ready to crawl into the warp core.

It was La Forge who again came to her rescue. “Sonya, how’d you like to get some lunch?”

From behind him, Duffy said, “Don’t let her order a hot chocolate, Geordi!” Next to him was Denny, who snickered.

“I’d like that very much, Lieutenant,” Sonya said meekly.

As they walked down the corridor toward the turbolift, Sonya said, “I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am, sir. If you want to transfer me off—”

“Now why would I do that?” La Forge chuckled. “If I transferred everyone who did something embarrassing, the engine room’d be empty in a week. All I care about is the work, and your work is excellent. I read your graduating thesis—now I wouldn’t have requested you if you weren’t the best.”

Again, Sonya’s stomach started doing cartwheels. She had no idea that La Forge had requested her, much less read her thesis. Looking down and smiling, she asked, “Where are we going?”

“Ten-Forward. We’re gonna forget about work. We are gonna sit, talk, relax, look at the stars.” He pointed a vaguely accusatory finger at her. “You need to learn how to slow down.”

It was the same thing Lian had said to her on her first night, and she believed it even less now than she had then. “Oh, no no no no, I can’t do that.”

La Forge stopped walking; so did she. “You know, you’re awfully young to be so driven.”

This was hardly the first time she’d heard those words, and she gave the lieutenant the same answer she always gave: “Yes, I am. I had to be. I had to be the best, because only the best get to be here. Geordi—” She cut herself off, realizing she’d just committed the latest in a series of faux pas. “Lieutenant,” she amended, lowering her head.

“It’s okay,” La Forge said. And indeed, most of the people in the engine room referred to the lieutenant by his first name. But most of the people in the engine room hadn’t spilled hot chocolate all over the captain, so she wasn’t sure where her boundaries lay. “Go on.”

“Whatever is out here, we’re going to be the first humans to see it—and I wanna be a part of that. I want to understand it.”

“Sonya, relax.” La Forge started walking again, and Sonya kept pace. “You’re here. You’ve made it.