Right now, she wished she could go back to Deep Space 8, just so she could mouth off to Terok, the Ferengi intendent in the Casino, who used to badger her every time she issued a complaint about unfair gambling rules.

Big-eared, annoying little trolls, who would do anything for profit - even sell their own family into slave labour, for the right price - that was what the Federation called Ferengi, but she, of course, had another name for them.

She couldn't understand it. Why would the Admiral send them all the way out here? They could've taken the Advanced Tactical Training course over at Starfleet Headquarters. Actually, she'd even like to have another crack at the Kobayashi Maru, the Fleet's no-win rescue mission scenario. Only one person was able to beat the program in Federation history, and that was the legendary Captain James T. Kirk.

There was a model Starfleet officer. The original USS Enterprise, and the 1701-A couldn't have been commanded by anyone better than Kirk. He handled his crew and missions with ease. What was her damned mission? As if in answer to her question, a familiar chirp from overhead indicated a message over the communications channel.

"Captain Samantha Valir, please report to the Briefing Room."

As she strode into the room, all eyes focused on her, especially those of Vice-Admiral Alynna Nechayev. True, she'd taken her time to get there, and the Admiral didn't look overly pleased.

"Captain Valir, glad you could make it," said Nechayev. "I'm sure that all of you have enjoyed the training that this superb outpost has offered." Discontented glances were exchanged by the officers present there.

"Unfortunately, you will have to leave this place in order to carry out the mission you were assigned. Starfleet has provided you with the finest vessel in order to ensure the success of this mission."

Valir wondered how it was possible that she would be in command of the Enterprise. It was the flagship of the entire Fleet! Last she heard, Jean-Luc Picard was still in control of that ship.

The viewscreen in the room displayed the small, orbiting station surrounded by open space. She couldn't see any starship. Valir was confused. "Admiral, the Enterprise isn't there. In fact, nothing's there except the station. Is this a joke?"

"The Enterprise? No..."

In the seconds that followed, a starship smaller than a Constitution class vessel shimmered onto the screen. It looked somewhat like the Enterprise, but boasted wings extending across the warp nacelles.

Nechayev continued with her debriefing. "Captain Valir, Starfleet has ordered that you take command of the USS Nova, effective immediately. Congratulations."

Valir couldn't believe this was happening. Sure, she'd been promoted from station commander to captain, but she could never have imagined commanding a starship, especially one that was more advanced than the Enterprise.

Born on the Mars colony, Samantha Valir entered Starfleet Academy at the age of sixteen. Usually, cadets would join the Academy in their later teens, but Valir was overly eager. She easily grasped the concepts of warp physics and tactical training well before her peers.

After her graduation, Valir found a position at the Conn on the USS Hood, holding the rank of ensign. She alternated to Tactical from time to time. The captain of the Hood, Robert DeSoto, was probably the friendliest person she'd ever known. He gave her as much time as she needed to adjust to serving on a starship, and was never inconsiderate if she was a few minutes late for her shift. DeSoto, who was a Conn expert himself, even taught Samantha a few navigational secrets he picked up from his flight instructor, back in his Academy days. He was Valir's one true friend while she was in service on the Excelsior class ship. That is, until Commander William T. Riker came along.

She'll never forget how they first met. It was a quiet day in the Lounge on the ship, a few years after her posting to the Hood, and she was now a lieutenant. Samantha ordered a Samarian Sunset, a drink made by only a few bartenders in the galaxy. She headed toward the deck to view the vast expanse of space. Unfortunately at the time, she wasn't watching where she was walking, and bumped right into the muscular chest of Will Riker. The drink splashed onto him, thoroughly soaking the shirt of his uniform.

Valir turned a lighter shade of red, and couldn't yet realize that she'd done such a thing. She was then consumed in a state of shock, when she noticed the rank insignia on his collar, designating him as a commander. It was at times like this she wished she was a captain, so that she might be able to blame him for running into her, but this time, she just wasn't that lucky.

"Oh, I'm very sorry, sir. I was heading for the deck, but I... I guess I got so carried away looking at the stars that I just --"

Riker interrupted, "It's alright, lieutenant...?"

"Lieutenant Samantha Valir, sir." She wasn't even sure if she'd given him the right name. Then she noticed the smile on his face, so her little anxiety attack loosened up a bit.

Not wanting to seem like a beast, Riker tried to make the best of the situation. "Well, lieutenant, maybe I should buy the captain a drink, and see how it suits him. If we hit it off this well, I'm hoping to make a good impression with him."

Valir laughed. Next thing she knew, she was walking the charming, young commander to his quarters. Riker and Valir's relationship soon blossomed into much more than they expected, but duty got in their way most of the time.

On one mission, the Hood was sent to Vaden IV, whose inhabitants requested acceptance into the Federation. The crew was to decide whether their request was suitable or not, by evaluating the world and its leaders.

After Riker beamed down to the planet with an away team which included Valir, he and the others were greeted warmly by the Vaden president and her associates. Out of nowhere, a group of thugs charged the team, and overtook them before they had the chance to pull out what few phasers they had. They were stripped of their communicators and weapons, so that they couldn't call the ship for assistance, or try to fight back.

Somehow, Valir managed to escape capture. She stationed herself in a nearby alley, and could overhear the enemy's preparations. They were planning to commandeer the Hood, in order to plunder other worlds in the sector. A large photon torpedo launcher was located at the centre of town. Since the starship had its shields down, it wouldn't be much of a problem for the Vadens to cripple the ship with photons. The away team, she discovered, was led away to a one-room prison at the northern edge of town.

Later that night, a hefty tower of a man guarded the photon launcher. Luckily for her, the giant slept. To make sure he didn't wake up, Valir stunned him with her phaser. She sneaked over to the launcher and began to sabotage it. Thanks to her tactical training and the obvious fact that the launcher was of Federation design, it didn't taken her that long to effect damage.

Samantha headed to the prison to see if there was any way that she could free the away team. After dodging past a few wanderers in town, she finally arrived at the prison. It was guarded by two men, who carried the team's phasers and probably their communicators as well.

She turned around the corner of the building and fired two quick stun shots, before the enemy had time to figure out which button to press to make the damn thing work. Valir rushed over to the cell door, borrowing the keys from one of the fallen guards.

The whole away team slept, under Riker's order, for they would need all their energy if they were to overtake the guards the next morning. But Riker just couldn't find it in himself to shut his eyes. He knew that Samantha was out there, somewhere, hopefully escorting another away team down to rescue them.

Riker heard the door unlock, and decided to take on the guards by himself. He was poised near the entrance, ready to stop anything that came through. One foot made it in, and about a second later, he flung himself at the figure that tried to enter. It took him a while to realize that it was the exquisite body of Lieutenant Valir he was flattening.

"Are you this happy to see me, Will?"

By that time, the rest of the away team woke up. Riker was about to reply, until he felt the eyes of his fellow officers on him. He got up off her and helped her from the ground.

"Well done, lieutenant," he said, trying to sound as professional as possible. "Let's get back up to the ship. You can give me your report there."

The away team collected their equipment from the unconscious guards and beamed up to the Hood.

While walking out of the transporter room, Riker tapped the communicator on his chest. "Riker to Bridge."

"Go ahead, commander," replied DeSoto from the ship's command centre.

"Captain, I suggest we raise shields and go to yellow alert. I also strongly recommend against approving the Vadens' request for acceptance into the Federation. Lieutenant Valir and I will give you a full report in a few minutes."

"Very well, Mr. Riker. DeSoto out."

Shortly thereafter, Riker and Valir strode into the captain's ready room. "Welcome back, you two. What's this I hear about denying Vaden IV's acceptance? And what's with the shields?" questioned DeSoto.

"The Vadens had a torpedo launcher down there aimed at the ship," replied Riker, candidly.

"Please, let me explain. Permission to report, captain?" asked Valir.

"Go ahead."

"Upon beaming down to the surface, the away team was attacked by a group of Vaden colonists. I managed to escape, but everyone else was captured." Valir continued her report, and astonished both of the men by the time she was finished. "The Vadens won't know I sabotaged the torpedo launcher until it's too late. In fact, they should be attempting their photon barrage very soon."

"Then, lieutenant, lead us to the Bridge. It seems the Vadens are in for a big surprise. If this works out, you could be receiving a promotion," informed DeSoto.

Samantha was overjoyed! To practically every Starfleet officer, a promotion was highly valued. Once again, she was one step closer to command.

"Give me a report on the status of the Vaden photon torpedo launcher," requested the captain.

The officer at Tactical tapped a few buttons, and glanced at the screen near his fingers to assess the situation of the planet-side weapon. "Sir, the Vadens are powering up the launcher. The loading sequence is engaged. Wait a minute...there seems to be a surge of power in their primary weapons array. The transfer coils are overloading. It's becoming unstable. It will destruct in... six seconds."

Time crept by slowly for Valir. She just couldn't wait to get promoted.

"Launcher destroyed, sir," replied the officer.

"Thank you, Tactical. And thank you, lieutenant. As of this date, I hereby promote you to the rank of lieutenant commander. Congratulations." Samantha later received another rank pip on her collar, this one with a black face instead of silver. "Now... Riker and Valir, I order you to your quarters. Get some sleep. You've earned it."

"Yes, sir," replied the both of them.

The two Starfleet officers stepped into the turbolift. After the doors closed, Samantha threw her arms around the burly hunk of man she called Will Riker, screamed with joy, and gave her best shot at a bear hug. Riker lifted her up off her feet and kissed her.

"Why don't you come by my quarters tomorrow morning? You're probably tired now, so we can celebrate by having breakfast. I'll fix it up," declared Riker.

"I'll be there," answered Valir.

The fairly monotone voice of the computer interrupted them. "Please specify your destination."

Riker laughed with the laugh that he was famous for, and stated, "Deck 26."

Valir said, "Deck 18...no, cancel that, computer. Deck 26."

She gave Riker a sly little smile. "I don't think I'm really that tired."

A month later, rumours were spreading around the ship that Commander Riker would get transferred to the Enterprise. When Samantha heard this, she was not amused. "Why the hell did you request a transfer?"

"The Enterprise is the flagship of the Federation. I heard that Picard's the greatest captain since Kirk, so I applied for the position. DeSoto highly recommended me, and Picard seemed to like my record in Starfleet, so they offered me the job. I just got word this morning that we're going to Farpoint Station in the Deneb Sector, where I'd get dropped off to wait for the Enterprise... I'm sorry, Samantha, but there's no other way."

Samantha slapped Will's face with such force that her hand soon hurt like hell. She turned around, trying to hide her pain, and went off in the opposite direction of Riker. Something inside her told her she was doing the wrong thing, but she kept on walking.

The young commander stood there completely shocked. Riker knew there was nothing more he could do, but wished he would have gone after her. Instead, he decided to prepare for his upcoming transfer, and headed back to his quarters.

With Riker gone, the ship needed a new first officer. DeSoto granted Samantha the rank of full commander, second in command to himself. This gave her the power to lead away team missions, assess the duty roster every now and then (which wasn't the greatest way to spend her time), advise the captain, and most importantly, sit in the command chair on the Bridge. Captaincy was practically within her grasp. All she needed now was to get recognized by Starfleet Command for some outstanding missions in the future, and they'd offer her her own ship!

A couple of weeks down the road, Starfleet had other plans for Samantha Valir. Oh, they'd recognized her alright. She became so important to them, they assigned her to Starbase Deep Space 8 as its Station Commander. What a thrilling job she had now! All kinds of desk work, allowing ships to dock at the station, settling bar fights down in the Casino, and stopping the Romulans from invading Federation territory. She couldn't wait...

...to get reassigned somewhere else. Valir imagined it to be one hell of a boring desk job, with no ship to move around in, no action, no fun...nothing. Was this all her life boiled down to? She had to do better. All the same, she called DS8 home, for the next few years of her life.

Samantha never met a Ferengi before, so when she took a turbolift down to the Casino, she didn't know what to expect. She certainly couldn't believe it when Terok, the insatiable little Ferengi, ushered her to the bar and prepared a drink for her.

"Welcome, commander, to my humble establishment. I am Terok, in charge of the Casino, bar, and of course, the holosuites. If you should need any support, financial or...matters of a personal nature," said the Ferengi, slyly, "come to me; I'm sure we could reach some sort of...mutually beneficial agreement." He offered her a tangerine-coloured beverage.

"How did you know I liked Samarian Sunsets?"

"My dear commander, you must understand that there are those of us who are supposed to know such things. Everything around here isn't always what it seems to be. I assume you haven't been out in deep space much?" asked Terok. Valir nodded. "Then, Valir, you have a lot to learn."

The Ferengi motioned her over to the gambling area. "Are you familiar with the dabo tables? They are a fascinating form of gambling, somewhat similar to the roulette tables back on your Earth a few hundred years ago."

Valir thought for a moment, and then replied, "Back at the Academy, my friends got me playing domjat. I don't think you'd ever find yourself a better player for that game. But I've never actually tried the dabo tables, no."

"Then allow me to introduce you," encouraged Terok. "This is Jasille, my particularly favourite dabo girl." Valir watched as Terok eyed Jasille's stunning figure, and tossed her a sweetly sharp-toothed smile. "I hope she will be able to show you just how to play, so that you'll become a professional some day. Tell you what...first round's on the house."

Samantha placed her bet, and Jasille started up the table. After it finished spinning, Valir discovered she'd lost.

"Oh, a most unfortunate turn of events! You may yet prove to be a worthy gambler, commander. Please, feel free to try as much as you like, but don't blame me if you walk out of here with empty pockets," claimed Terok.

When Valir tried playing another few times, she ended up losing again. Samantha was determined to beat the Ferengi at his own game. Back in her Academy days, she remembered a little trick she used to win against one of her fellow cadets, when she was playing domjat. She created this device from a nearby replicator and confidently returned to the dabo table. Valir attached it underneath the table, far from the eyes of Jasille, who was preoccupied with making sure her hair was okay.

The commander placed her bet, and the dabo girl started up the table. As luck - or certain mechanics - would have it, Valir won. After about twenty minutes of continuous victory, she attracted quite a crowd. Her total winnings almost emptied the profits of the Casino for the day.

Terok became increasingly concerned. He scurried over to the dabo table, pushing other people out of the way, and approached Valir. "Commander, I seem to have been right. You are a worthy gambler. Now about that empty pockets remark..."

"I'm sure it just came out accidentally, right?"

"Exactly. Could I...speak with you privately for a moment?"

"Well, I don't know, Terok. I seem to be on a bit of a hot streak. I really don't want to give up now."

Terok pleaded, "Please, commander, just for a moment."

Samantha finally agreed and went to speak with the owner of the Casino. "What seems to be the problem?"

"You're the one who's virtually emptied my pockets. It's getting a little out of hand. I can offer a reasonable alternative. A free visit to a holosuite, perhaps? I could teach you how to...properly enjoy it," snickered Terok.

She thought to herself, "Is sex all that Terok ever thinks about?" Then, she replied, "Thank you very much, but no. I'll refund you all the latinum I won, in exchange for something I need. You're a man with connections, Terok. All I ask is that there's a chance I may need a favour at some point down the road. I can't guarantee when, but I might need a little one. Is that okay?"

Not wanting to sound like he was giving in too easily, he answered, "Well, I suppose one little favour won't hurt."

"Excellent. I trust that you'll make my stay here a pleasant one. Unless, of course, you'd like me to come back and try my luck here again..." She walked back to the dabo table after the crowd dispersed, collected her device, and left the Casino leaving Terok awestruck.

After a few years of service at Deep Space 8, Commander Samantha Valir was once again called upon by Starfleet Command. That was how she got to where she was now - standing proudly upon the Bridge of the USS Nova, as the captain of her own ship. She examined her mission from Vice-Admiral Nechayev and decided to get underway.

"Helm, set a course for Starbase Deep Space 9, maximum warp. Engage." And with that, the matter and antimatter converged, hurtling Valir and her starship toward their first mission at another remote part of the Federation.

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