A post Imzadi II tale...ah, come on, you knew they would start
turning up soon! Feedback is welcomed! zlanna@AOL.com

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	Return Engagement by Zlanna

	The long corridor outside Will Riker's dorm room was dimly lit and
empty as it usually was during the third shift at the Academy. Checking
to his left Riker saw no one in the barren corridor but he could hear
the faint cries of a woman arguing with a lover or maybe a visiting
spouse. Tensions were at ignition point among the war weary faculty
recruited from ships destroyed by the Borg. The mid-point of the
semester was drawing near causing tempers to flare without much
prompting. Will himself had two days to write up three exams for the
classes he was teaching, grade seventy-eight strategy essays and cram
for a press interview. He didn't have time for this rendezvous. He
should be in his room working, but working was impossible tonight.

	He scanned the hall to his right. A campus security officer was
making his last rounds before curfew. He stood in the corridor, a burly
looking man, obviously berating some poor teacher who had crossed him.
Nasty bunch these security guys. He wore a black armband with a large MP
embroidered on the band and "Military Police" stitched in small letters
below the abbreviation.  Riker knew the type - MPs who resented anyone
whose assignment was aboard a ship. Bad enough to be stuck here on the
ground for six months, it gnawed at Riker's gut that he had to be
subjected to almost the same rules as the cadets themselves. It would be
different in married officersą quarters of course, but here in the
single men's dormitory, he was expected to make an attempt to be a good
example.

	Behind him he heard his roommate yell out, "Hey Will! Are you going
to stand there all night building up your nerve?"

	Stepping back to allow the autodoor to close, Riker turned sharply
on his heel, his jaw locked like a vise, his lips as thin as spun wire.
"MP coming. Why don't you announce a little louder I'm about to break
curfew, Geordi?"

	"Gee, I'm sorry. They really have MPs here?"

	"That's right. Okay, he should be gone by now. I hope." Riker peeked
out into the hall once again. All was silent as the previous arguing had
died out. To his right, Riker heard the soft footfalls of the MP as he
continued on his round. "I'll be back in an hour." he whispered.

	"Better make that three." LaForge answered. "You'll never make it
over there and back in one hour."

	Riker grimaced, the faint wrinkles around his sunken eyes deepening.
"Well, maybe if I'm lucky.  Tell you what, why don't you check and if
you don't see me outside in thirty minutes, check again in three hours.
I'll either be back quickly or I'll need the extra time."

	LaForge nodded his head in agreement, then frowned. "No one knows
what you're doing?"

	Riker shook his head, "No. No one. You sure the computer will think
I'm still here in the room?"

	"Got it all taken care of." LaForge sighed deeply, "Get going or
you'll be late. Good luck."

	Riker slipped out the door, down the hall and outside the dormitory
without another word. Everything went smoothly. Too smoothly. That's why
he wasn't surprised when he heard a shout behind him, "Hey! You! Where
are you going?"

	***

	Marshall Warren was no one's fool. He had served twenty-two years in
Starfleet, all of it as an Academy Security Officer. The past thirteen
years he had been in charge of keeping the Academy cadets who lived in
his dorm, Dorm H-3, in line. Intimidating the cadets was child's play
compared to staying on top of their pain-in-the-butt officers who taught
here. Especially the big name heroes who spent a few years gallivanting
around the stars in some cushy, oversized holosuite complete with
replicators, vidflicks, whatever they wanted. Damn sissies. Warren's
thoughts were interrupted by the sound of squabbling in a room down the
narrow, windowless hall. Taking out his Klingon pain prod he advanced
slowly toward the cabin, armed and ready for battle.

	The prod made a deep, serious thud against the wall. Of course with
the autodoors, you couldn't pound on the door itself, the proximity
detector would simply activate and open. That was no good. The pounding
of the prod was a sound that demanded respect though. It set the tone
for the confrontation. Letting the occupant know that the MP meant
business. Plus the sight of the prod usually reduced recalcitrant
officers to quivering cowards. That was the idea. That was why he had
gotten permission to carry it. As an experiment in preventive
intimidation. He wasn't actually authorized to use the prod, but he had
been granted the rights to carry it. If any real trouble broke out, he
was to use a phaser on stun to subdue a problem maker. Sure, Warren
thought. Like I carry the damn thing around just to wave it in the air.
He hadn't decided whether he would really use the prod in an emergency
or not, but he kept it fully charged as backup. Warren waited.

	A small Ferengi, wearing lieutenant pips, cautiously appeared in the
doorway, weaving and bobbing up and down so quickly that he annoyed
Warren. It was never good to annoy Warren. "Sir, what can I do for you,
Sir?" the Ferengi asked. His eyes never veering from the prod.

	"Curfew. Lights out and keep it quiet in here. Some people are
trying to sleep." Warren glimpsed the nude woman behind the Ferengi.
"Hey! Do you have a woman in here?"

	"Apologies, Sir. Let me introduce my wife, Qualik." The Ferengi
lieutenant bowed deeply and stepped aside to allow Warren a better look
at the woman.

	"Females in the single men's dorm is against the rules." Warren said
with a sneer as he lightly tapped the prod in the palm of his left hand.
"You'll have to come with me."

	All the color in the Ferengi's face faded. "Here. My padd. Says she
is my wife. Married accommodations were full. We were told to come
here." The Ferengi continued to stare at the prod that now rested in
Warren's hand. He began to dance from side to side in agitation.
"Please. Check." The lieutenant shot a glance at his wife who
disappeared into the bedroom. Turning back, the Ferengi smiled at
Warren, then receiving no reaction but a frown, he motioned again at the
padd. "Please," the Ferengi pleaded, "please check."

	It only took a few seconds to verify the Ferengi's story. It checked
out. Warren stared at the screen in disgust. How was he supposed to do
his job if the top brass couldn't even follow their own rules? Well, he
wouldn't waste this opportunity to make an impression on the Ferengi. He
never did like the little weasels anyway. Now they were letting the
blood suckers into Starfleet. It was too much. Warren's hand flew
through the air, grabbing the lieutenant's collar before the Ferengi
knew that Warren had even moved. Lifting the Ferengi off the floor,
Warren spoke inches from the Ferengi's nose, "Listen to me you scum. You
will not break any of my rules, you understand?"

	His eyes wide with fear, his head arched back as far away from
Warren as he could manage, the Ferengi lieutenant nodded his head once.
He opened his mouth as if to speak, but then when Warren narrowed his
eyes and glanced down at the prod that hung from a loop around his
wrist, the Ferengi gulped loudly for air and simply shook his head in
agreement.

	"Good. You wouldn't want to make me mad. Now, I don't want to see
that woman again. She may be authorized to stay here from the top brass,
but you won't find any Admirals down here Lieutenant, so you'd be wise
to obey what I say. I say keep her inside your cabin and don't let me
find her wandering in my halls. And don't let me hear another peep out
of you two while you are "visiting" us. Do I make myself clear?"

	Warren dropped the lieutenant to the ground. The poor man never
tried to stir. Eyes lowered, frozen as he had fallen, he simply nodded
once and continued to study the carpet.

	Sweetly, in a matronly voice, Warren said, "Good night then."
Stepping outside the motion detector's range, the MP continued his
rounds. He had just turned the corner at the intersection of another
long corridor when he heard a noise behind him. Quickly Warren double
backed on himself, but no one was there. "Computer, are all guests of
Dorm H3 in their rooms?"

	"All are accounted for." the computer answered.

	Warren grunted. Computers could be fooled. He decided to follow in
the direction he had heard the noise, just in case.

	***
	To be continued...