The next day, true to his word, Archer spoke with Admiral Forrest advising him on the incident and giving his recommendation that Danaë remain on board as a permanent crewman. This was no easy sell. The admiral was impressed with the way she had rescued the captain, but this woman's background was questionable to say the least. To allow her into Starfleet without following the proper channels was something that ran contrary to regulation, but such things could be overlooked. Hoshi had proven this when Archer re-enlisted her despite having been dishonorably discharged for running a floating poker game and breaking the arm of an instructor. She was still the top of her field which made her indispensable during Enterprise's first mission and she continued to be.
What was in Danaë's favor was that Admiral Forrest trusted Jonathan Archer's judgement. When the captain assured him that she had a fire in her belly and was willing to lay everything on the line for Starfleet, his word was not questioned. Yet, as intriguing as this pitch was, the admiral would not agree to anything until he find out what this young woman was capable of for himself. For one full day she answered question after question regarding earth history as well as Starfleet regulation and protocol followed by rigorous testing on warp engine principles, theories that ranged from the first warp engine built for the Phoenix to the Henry Archer's Warp-5 engine. Curious to see how far she could go he began to throwing questions at her from the officer's exams which she answered with little hesitation. When it was over it was clear that while she was no longer the ace student, she still managed to perform exceedingly well.
The following day she was told to meet with Commander Tucker for a practical applications test. He had been sent a series of tasks that she had to be able to complete. On his own he threw in a few additional trials because he found that things seldom went as scripted and he wanted to see how she would behave and work under pressure. She never faltered. There were even a few times when she was able to show Trip a trick he was unaware of. At the end of day two it was certain that she had retained most the information learned in her youth.
After two days of testing, Admiral Forrest was nearly convinced and ready to offer her a commission. His only qualms was that he wanted to verify that she was physically fit and could handle herself. He read enough of Captain Archer's reports to know that the crew was constantly finding themselves in challenging situations, from other species as well as the elements. Dr. Phlox was more than willing to sign off her physical wellbeing, He had run enough tests on her when she arrived that he was positive she was healthy.
It fell to Lt. Reed to evaluate her abilities with weapons as well as hand to hand combat. Though he remembered well the Klingon knife she carried, he was still a bit skeptical as to how well she could defend herself. He might have enjoyed the idea of engaging in a contact exercise with her in the beginning, but after she managed to lay in a couple of hard blows things got serious. Indeed, he found her to be a challenging opponent and was impressed with her technique as well as her ability to use her short stature to her advantage. In an attempt to show off his skill Lt. Reed upped the ante and came at Danaë full force. In the same instant her style changed which caught him off guard making it possible to bring him to the ground, causing him instant pain and regret.
"What the hell was that?" He asked as she helped him up.
"Mok'bara, it's a type of Klingon martial arts. Are you going to be okay?" She suddenly felt bad looking at the way he was still catching his breath.
"Where did you learn Klingon martial arts?"
"An officer on my father's ship taught me. His name was Lt. Worf and he was the chief of security when I was a child. He would give Mok'bara martial arts classes and I started attending them when I was about 6. When he transferred to a space station he left me a program on the holodeck that continued the lessons as I got older." She explained.
"You had a Klingon as chief of security?" Malcolm had some experience with Klingons, but from what he had seen, he couldn't imagine one in Starfleet, let alone in charge of security.
"Yes we did. He was a damn fine officer too. In the interest of maintaining good health I would never advise questioning his courage, honor or integrity. However, you could not find a more loyal or honorable man." She handed Malcom a towel and his bottle of water.
"You'll have to teach me some of those moves." Lt. Reed answered then quickly drank down some water.
"Anytime.
"Next I need to test your weapons knowledge and ability down in the armory, but first I need a couple of minutes to recoup." He sat down on a bench and wiped sweat from his face with a towel.
"Do you remember the other day when you invited me to join you for movie night? I don't suppose that offer is still good?" She asked. He looked at her in surprise. "As friends of course." She quickly amended as she picked up her own water bottle and sat down next to him on the bench.
"Yeah." He smiled brightly at her. "I have no idea what Commander Tucker has picked out, but it should be fun."
The two talked at length about self-defense and different types of martial arts. Lt. Reed was well versed in each earth style and was eager to learn more from other species. Danaë not only knew Mok'bara but had learned some of the finer points of the Vulcan martial arts of Suus Mahna and Tal-shaya from a Vulcan teacher during her travels on earth. Though she never learned to be as proficient at it as she might have hoped, she had a great appreciation for the art. Being able to defend yourself was a skill that had proved essential during her travels on earth and on occasion she had been in situations when it probably saved her. Malcom rose from the bench and held out his hand to help her up.
"Let's get your weapons test over with. I suspect I already know whether you'll pass or fail, but protocol is protocol." His assumption proved to be correct. She was at least as good a shot as he was, possibly a bit better. Had she been able to use her own phaser, the scores might have been higher.
After all the testing was done there as a final meeting with Admiral Forrest. He was quick to tell her how impressed he was at how well she performed. As anticipated she was offered a position in Starfleet and would be remaining on board the Enterprise primarily in the engineering department. She would be considered an 'extra man' as it were, filling in wherever they needed her until a more permanent position could be determined. Her rank was still under discussion with Captain Archer, though her natural assumption was that she would begin as an Ensign.
She was assigned to new quarters just on the other side of the wall from Travis Mayweather and she wasted no time in packing up her belongs and moving in. The room was rather small with a single twin bed surrounded by shelves, a small desk with a computer, and a chair with a table. It did have its own private bathroom which was something of a luxury on this ship. Strange she would have that amenity as an ensign. The size of the room didn't bother her in the slightest. It had been a long time since she had had any real room of her own. The only thing she was disappointed about was that there were no windows, but she could make do with the ones in the mess hall.
