Penguins
p_co07@yahoo.com

I hope you guys like what I'm doing here...

Disclaimer: still in force. All of it belongs to
Paramount…I just play with the names.



Chapter 1


"Get out!" she yelled, pointing towards the door.
He did---- for the second time.
"Coward…you always run away, Will Riker." She said
rather loudly, he heard her in the hallway. "You
always run away." She repeated, just before he heard a
flower pot smash against  the door.
Riker went to ten forward and decided to get a drink
and let her have time to cool off.
"Deanna?" he requested, upon returning, standing
outside of her door. Hoping she had calmed down.
Will Riker buzzed the metal door panel again.
"Deanna! It’s me open the door."
<yelling through a metal door…and is giving the
impression to everyone around him that he is a
moron…>> he heard her irritated voice inside of his
head.
Staring up at the ceiling as if in thought, he exhaled
and buzzed the door again.
And again.
And again.
<<Please, stop that horrid buzzing.>>
"Damn it, Deanna! I know you’re in there open the
door."
<wonder you’ve climbed the Starfleet ladder so quickly,
Commander.>>
She only called him Commander on a formal professional
basis, or when she was angry with him, and she was
definitely angry with him.
"I can make that an order, you know. Or, override this
lock."  He threatened.
The heavy metal door remained closed.
Correcting his posture, he remained true to his
threat. "Counselor, I order you to open this door."
The door opened.
"Yes, Commander. What can I do for you this evening?"
she stated professionally and very starfleet worthy.
She stood there in the door in a flimsy, lacy,
camisole.
"I like what you’re not wearing." He said with a glint
in his eye.
"I wasn’t expecting you." she said flatly.
The spark in his eye dimmed. "Grumpy aren’t we?" he
teased.
The door slid shut in his face.
Standing outside the hallway, the scratched his beard,
finally he inhaled and exhaled before he continued.
"Computer override the lock Riker eight thirteen
oh-one"
Sitting on her sofa with her arms crossed; she
immediately jumped up. "You…I can’t believe you just
did that!" she shrieked.
"What the hell’s wrong with you?" he asked squinting
his eyes. "You tell me to get out and then you get
pissed off because I leave." He had both hands flat on
the door casing, blocking the entry way to her
quarters, as if he was going to stop her in case she
wanted to dart out.
"No, I told you that you had no right to volunteer me
to do something, that, by the way, you didn’t even
take the time to discuss with me first. Then I told
you to leave….and now I’m angry with you not because
you left, but because you came back." She slowly
walked towards the door.
"Deanna"
"You ordered me to open this door. I obeyed. And then
you ordered the door to unlock itself and it obeyed.
Now that you’ve succeeded in verbally demonstrating
your authority. Tell me is this ship’s business or
personal business, Commander?"
"Deanna….look, I’m sorry about that.  It was the only
thing I knew to do in order for you to open the door
and talk to me." his voice suddenly turning angry he
stated, "This is personal business, and you know it."
"So you yourself have belayed your own order. You’ve
apologized to me, perhaps now you should apologize to
the door. And by the way," she added,  "I am under no
obligation to discuss my personal life with the
ship’s First Officer."
"But you are obligated to go on this away mission."
"It isn’t an away mission, Commander."
"Yes, it is."
"No it’s not. It’s your personal vacation, Commander.
Your personal vacation that you volunteered the two of
us to go on and check out some frozen ice cube…not my
idea of a vacation, mind you. But what is worse is
that you took for granted that I would accompany
you….to the deep dark regions of what….the North Pole?
You----standing there telling the Captain, "Oh Deanna
and I are going on vacation, and we would be more than
happy to go to the Yukon and check out the sector."
Staring up at the ceiling momentarily, then she looked
at him "Deanna and I-----would be happy." She repeated
his earlier words. "Plus, we are leaving in the
morning….In the morning, Commander."
"Sounds great doesn’t it?" he smiled.
"You’ve turned our vacation into an
expedition….without even asking first, Commander."
"But there’s lots of adventure to be found in the
Yukon. The captain asked us to check out the B-sector.
We need to go."
"It isn’t mandatory that we go, Commander. You
volunteered. You volunteered---- us." She said quite
frankly, pointing a finger first to herself and then
to Riker, relaying some sort of sign language. "During
our personal vacation time, no less."
"Think about it, Deanna." he said, looking like a
little boy getting ready for a big adventure. "The
Yukon." He gleamed leaning forward, holding onto the
casing of the door for leverage.
"Well, You-kon kiss my butt and freeze by yourself."
She stated rather sarcastically. "Commander." She
emphasized.
"That was bad." He said with a lopsided smile. "I
think I liked you better when you were a serious
psychology student, Deanna."
"Get out of my doorway." She huffed.
"It will be good for us. We need to go."
"We need to go and do what---- spend time with  the
seals?  With the  polar bears? Or those things that,
waddle around…those little bird like creatures
that…that….and they squawk all day long, what are
they..?"
He gave her a raise of the eyebrows and a big grin.
"Penguins."
"Remove your hands from my door casing, Commander.
And, don’t you dare walk through that door."
He stayed where he was. In the doorway.
"Look…..we can go to Betazed or any other warm, sunny
climate you choose to go to next year, I promise. But
we have to go, we have to."
She stood there with both arms crossed. Glaring at
him. The expression on her face never changing. He
needed to think of something fast.
"Deanna you have to go, I need you." Looking at her
with big puppy dog blue eyes he softly repeated. "I
need you."
"To do what!" she didn’t buy it for a minute. "Council
the penguins and ask them why they feel it’s necessary
to dress so formal all the time."
"Deanna, you're not making this easy, you know."
"And neither are you. I tell you what, as soon as I’m
as equipped as you are. I will go to the north pole."
"What does that mean….equipped?"
"As soon as I grow a beard, Commander. You have me at
a disadvantage, your face will keep warm. Mine will
not."
"I can keep you warm."
She glared at him with solid black scolding eyes.  He
took one step back out of the doorway, as she walked
towards him. "That won’t be necessary, Commander.
Because, If I do----go with you----I assure you, I
will be wearing six of these night gowns, four pairs
of socks, seven long sleeved shirts, three pair of
pants and what ever else I can replicate…"
He smiled and took a step in front of him towards the
doorway, placing both hands on the door frame.
Returning to his original position.
"Please, remove your hands from my door casing."
He let go of the door and began to step into her
quarters.
"Don’t you dare step through that door." She warned,
her anger growing.
"So you’re going?" he asked in anticipation, he
remained in the doorway, but he totally choose to
ignore her anger.
"I’m only going to make sure that you have a horrible
vacation, just as I will have. So, If that is all,
Commander." She paused. " I believe I will retire for
the evening" she stated as if she were speaking to the
Captain.  "Alone." She emphasized.
The door slid shut, forcing him to step out of the
doorway. It closed in his face, nearly nipping his
nose.
"Deanna?" the door buzzed again.
"What!" she snapped. Pushing the panel glaring at him
as the door slid open.
"I love you." he smiled, quickly leaning forward, and
giving her a quick peck on the lips.
She rolled her eyes at him "You won’t after you're
attacked by a penguin."
He laughed "Deanna, penguins don’t…"
"Good night, Commander." She cut him off. Immediately
pushing the door panel control.
"You keep calling me Commander, that means your still
mad right?" he yelled through the door.
<<Oh, Shut Up!!!>> he heard the words in his head.
Riker knew--- they both knew that no matter how mad
she was at him  or vise versa.  They couldn’t stay mad
at one another for long, not if they wanted to
function properly, to think straight, to give their
best to their selves and to their careers. The two of
them had learned that little fact a long time ago. 
She was the color in his life, without her; everything
appeared to be black and white, dull and lifeless.
Half the time, when she wasn’t around, she had left
the ship to go on some psychology thing.  He wouldn’t
even eat. He didn’t care to eat. Even the food lost
its flavor. The food soon became like his life, dull
and bland when she wasn’t there. He could go a day
without seeing her, two days…when their work schedules
didn’t permit them to run across each other’s paths,
but at least she was there….on the ship. He cherished
her presence. Her whole essence. Deanna Troi had
somehow influenced everything in his life that he had
accomplished. When that happened he didn’t know, he
didn’t care.
So okay, he was wrong  taking for granted that she
wanted to traipse off into the frozen snow world with
him. He would apologize tomorrow, and probably never
do it again.
So the arguments usually ended up with both of them
saying they were sorry, both of them learning from
their mistakes, and then the make-up sex, which was
great.  Not that they needed an argument to have great
sex. It was just one of those things they did.
Standing outside of her door,  "She says her mother’s
eccentric." He said shaking his head as he walked down
the corridor towards his quarters, knowing that she
was already packed and ready to go with him.
Will Riker woke up sometime in the night or early
morning he didn’t know which; and felt a warm, soft
body snuggling up against his back. When she had
spooned herself into a comfortable position, with her
arm wrapped around his waist. He felt her begin to
relax, and he knew that the much need sleep would soon
overtake her.
"Goodnight, Imzadi." he whispered.
"Love you" she softly whispered in return.
He was more than certain that in the morning, they
would make up.  He drifted back to sleep with a smile.


"Penguins"   Chapter 2

Shortly after the helicopter had landed them safely to
their destination in sector three of the Yukon, Deanna
watched as it began to disappear into the cold frigid
air….leaving only an echo of  the engine sound, before
it too faded away in the distance.
Looking over at Riker, she watched as her breath
became visible in the air.
Spreading his legs apart, and holding both arms high
above his head, he yelled into the sky, "This is
great!!"
Deanna was standing in the middle of a huge snowy
nowhere. Watching a grown man, as he yelled in the
air, in the snow, and in the coldness of the
atmosphere. She wanted to push him down in it, and the
only reason she didn’t was because she wasn’t quite
sure as to how to motivate her feet, in the knee high
snow.
The only skin that was visible was her mouth and nose,
the bright orange thermal snow suit in which she was
wearing had swallowed up most of her tiny body. Her
eyes, being shielded against the bright glaring
reflection of the snow with a pair of huge orange
goggles.
"Isn’t this Great, Deanna!" he yelled with excitement.
"I don’t know I’ve never seen snow before, Will.  I
will make a total assessment of the climate and the
situation after our vacation."
"You’ve never seen snow? You’re kidding?" he asked in
disbelief
"Betazoids don’t lie." She reminded him. "Okay." She
continued "Now that we have purchased all of our
necessary goods in mass bulk." She said referring to
the wooden boxes. "Shouldn’t we begin to move it to
our cabin over there?" she pointed a huge orange
mitten towards their vacation lodge, located, she
noticed in the middle of nowhere.
"Deanna you wait, this will be fun. You’ll see." He
said eagerly.
"I’ll certainly never forget it, dear." She groaned as
she began to struggle and tug. She began to pull the
wooden boxes that were on the sleigh towards their
cabin.
Will immediately ran and grabbed onto the thick roped
handle of the sleigh. "Hey, I’ll do that…" he said
with a smile. Taking over the task at hand as he began
to pull effortlessly on the rope. Deanna noticed that
the huge bundled sleigh seemed to glide smoothly
across the snowy flatland.
Deanna was trudging through the snow beside him,
lifting her knees almost to her waist with each step
she took.  Finally she asked, "Why do I have to wear
these?"
"What?" he stopped to look at her.
"These…..these, racket ball things---that you have
attached to my feet.?" She asked bending her knee,
thus lifting one foot in the air.
"Deanna, they are called snow shoes and they provide
better traction. They aid in helping us to ambulate
through the snow more efficiently."
"Oh, I see." She said.
They took three more steps towards their cabin.
"Will?"
"What, Deanna?" he stopped walking, giving her his
undivided attention.
"They really aren’t very attractive, you know." She
said observantly. "I mean, Will---they are rather
ugly, actually. Plus," she added, "You gave me a pair,
that---to be honest, are too big. I think I’m wearing
yours."
"They’re suppose to fit that way, Deanna." He smiled.
"I assure you, they are not too big."
"If you say so."
"Shall we?" he motioned with his hand urging her on,
as he began to pull the sleigh.
They took about four steps towards their cabin.
"Will?"
"What?"
"Why do I have to wear these huge goggles? I mean
orange?  Couldn’t I  have a powder puff blue tinted
lens or something?"
"Gee, Deanna. Why don’t you take them off, for about
five seconds and find out why you have those
goggles….and I’m sorry, but." He stopped walking, as
he turned to look at her. "Starfleet doesn’t give us a
wide assortment of colors, in which to choose from."
He began to walk again towards their destination.
Stopping long enough to look around, Deanna raised her
snow goggles and scanned the area. She saw nothing
around her for miles but snow covered flat plains, the
brightness of the snow almost blinded her. She quickly
lowered her snow goggles.
"Will?" she ran awkwardly ahead in order catch up with
him.
"What!" he sounded annoyed.
"You’re absolutely certain that there aren’t any kind
of  woolly mammoths around here, aren’t you?"
Turning around, he stopped and  looked at her, with a
lopsided grin he asked, "Any what, Deanna?"
"Woolly mammoths."
"You’re really unbelievable, you know that?"
"What?" she asked innocently. "I was thinking you may
have to trade their furs--- for food."
"Come on." he said with a grin. Pulling the sleigh
behind him.
They took about four steps towards their cabin.
"Will?"
"What is it now Deanna?" he was getting really annoyed
now.
"Where are those loud little bird things---I don’t see
any?"
"Penguins, Deanna. The damn things are called
penguins." He stopped to look at her, the annoyance
evident with his facial expression.  "And they live
along the shore lines mostly." He held out a gloved
hand towards the cabin. "Okay? Can we proceed now?"
They took about five more steps towards their cabin.
"Will?"
"What." he answered more sarcastically this time.
"Why is it so crunchy?"
"Why is what so crunchy, Deanna?" he repeated her
question. This time, without stopping.
"The snow, it crunches when we walk.?"
"Deanna." He exhaled, as he stopped walking and turned
to face her.
"What?" she asked innocently. He noticed the grin that
slowly began to revealed itself, across the visible
part of her face.
"Are you asking all of these questions, just to make
certain that you insure that our vacation time is
going to be a living hell?"
"Yep." She replied playfully.
"Are you going to stop asking these asinine
questions?"
"Not now. Not ever, Commander."
"I didn’t think so." He said shaking his head, as they
took their last steps towards their cabin.

"Penguins" Chapter 3


Deanna silently sat on the sofa, with her legs tucked
under her, covered up with a thermal blanket, she
appeared to be concentrating on the illuminating
affects of the soft burning lights of the fireplace.
“I hope your feeling better.” Will said as he handed
her a cup of steamy hot chocolate. He slowly sat down
beside her. “Deanna, I’m really sorry. I should have
told you.”
She politely nodded as she reached for the cup of
chocolate.

Deanna had entered the little log cabin and
immediately noticed the one room. Searching about the
cabin, she noticed the one room. The one and only
room.  It consisted of a small kitchen area along one
wall. There was a sofa in the middle of the room that
folded out into a bed. Scattered about the room were a
few end tables and a fireplace. That was it. One room,
one door, and two windows.
She asked where the toilet facilities were, and that’s
when her Betazoid temper flared.  There were no toilet
facilities, at least inside. There was this building
type structure outside; the sight of it wanted to make
her scream. There was no plumbing, no electricity,
nothing. After all what did she expect? They were in
the middle of a measureless frozen nothingness, a
region that hadn’t even really been discovered yet.
She was in cultural shock, to say the least. One day
she’s on the Enterprise with all the modern
conveniences of the 24th century. The next day she’s
suddenly thrown backwards to the 19th century. Farther
than that, this was, in her eyes---the ice age.
William T. Riker had disregarded to mention the
so-called accommodations of their little cozy winter
vacation get away.
“Deanna, Are you going to talk to me?” he was on the
floor at her feet, pulling off her bright orange
boots.
“What would you like to discuss, Commander?” she asked
professionally.
“Oh, so we’re back to formalities?” he asked as he
laid her boots by the door.
“Would you rather I tell you to get out, perhaps you
could stand in the doorway and lean on the casing.
“Are we going to spend the next two weeks like this?”
“I’m not going to spend another minute here, Will
Riker. I would appreciate it if you would be so kind
as to notify our pilot and tell him, I’m ready to
leave.” She said standing to her feet, wrapping the
thermal blanket around her shoulders.
“Deanna. I told you I couldn’t do that.” She could
sense his remorse. “He won’t be back for two weeks.”
“Yes, I remember that.” She said as if she recalled
the moment. “And you remember my reaction?”
“You’re not going to be eaten by a penguin if you use
the facilities, Deanna.”
“Will. Don’t mock me.”
“I’m not.” He stated truthfully, “I’m not.”
“I’m going to bed,” she said setting her hot chocolate
mug on the end table. “ There is approximately
nineteen hours of darkness here. Hopefully, I can
sleep for the next two week. Perhaps hibernate like
some penguin.” She adjusted herself on the sofa. “You
can sleep on the floor.”
“The floor?” he whispered. 
Flipping her body over, her back towards him, she had
basically kicked him off of the sofa.
“Goodnight, Commander.” She stated quite frankly.
“Fine.” He stated in surrender, as he stood in the
middle of the room. “Are you going to sleep in your
snow suit?”
Sitting up on the sofa, she began to remove the bright
orange thermal snowsuit that Starfleet had provided
them.
He noticed she was tugging on something, then she
stood to her feet.
“Ugh.”  She exclaimed, stomping her socked foot to the
floor. Half way down the suit the zipper stopped
moving, and it wouldn’t budge. “No doubt,” she said,
“Starfleet issued me a suit that is malfunctioning.”
She stated, while still struggling with the zipper.
“Or, have you also disregarded to tell me that once
you get this thing on, you can never remove it.”
“Deanna.” He was already walking towards her, he chose
to ignore her remark. “Here. Let me help.” He offered
seeing her dilemma. He gently freed the stubborn
zipper. “There, now you can step out of it.”
She awkwardly stepped out of the thermal snowsuit,
kicking it to the side.
Deanna had been true to her word. Standing before Will
Riker was a tiny Betazoid woman, who was wearing at
least four shirts. (That he could see.)  His brain
suddenly flashed back, to what she had said the night
before about the list of clothing she was threatening
to wear.
“How many actual layers of clothing have you got on?”
he asked, in disbelief. “Deanna, you are dressed like
my grandparents.”
“You’re grandparents aren’t alive, Will.”
Her simple statement made him just shake his head as
he slowly walked away from her.
“Will?” she asked as picked the snowsuit up off the
floor and neatly hung it on a nearby wall.
“Yeah” he answered, squatting in front of the fire,
poking at the wood.
“You actually lived like this as a child?”
“No.” he answered rising, “Not quite this primitive.”
She watched him as he walked over to the pile of wood
that was stacked neatly against one wall, “We had all
of the luxuries of modern living if that’s what you
mean” He said, picking up two sticks of wood. “This
area hasn’t even really been discovered yet.” Laying
the wood gently on the fire. “It’s really not that
bad.” He said dusting his hands off  “once you get
used to it.”
“I suppose if I had to discover the unknown, whether
it was in this frozen wasteland, or in the vast
wonders of space.” She paused. “I would want to
explore it with you.”
She noticed his smile, as he turned to face her. She
returned his smile, with one of her own.
“You really do look cute, with all those clothes on.”
He said as he walked towards her.
“And I plan to stay that way.” She replied with a
playful tilt of her head.
He pulled her body close to his, and embraced her. His
cheek against her hair. “I’m sorry, Deanna.” He
whispered. She returned his embrace, wrapping her arms
around him.
He softly kissed her hair, and then her forehead, then
her cheek, and then her mouth.
She led him to the sofa. “This may not be so bad,
after all” she thought.



Chapter 4

Deanna woke up the next morning to the smell of
breakfast cooking; its aroma totally engulfed their
small living space. Will had gotten up before she had,
and he stayed busy putting all of the supplies away,
he had made sure that the fire stayed toasty warm all
night. He was going out of his way, to make up for the
other accommodation that was missing from their living
quarters.
She thought that was sweet. She also realized that the
more time she spent with this sometimes unpredictable,
stubborn as a wall man the more she loved him. She
just never realized how much he actually thrived and
embellished the cold, snowy atmosphere--- that’s all.

They had decided to get an early start exploring the
sector, Will who was like a small boy, not being able
to wait to start his adventure. Happily pounced around
their cabin after breakfast, urging her to hurry up
and get her equipment on.


They had been scanning the area for two hours and
Deanna has stood patiently waiting, watching Will as
he completed his task.
Standing in the middle of nowhere, Deanna looked
around at the blinding vast whiteness of the plains.
It was she thought, actually beautiful and
breathtaking. Everything around them was pearly white.
She noticed the sun as it shined on the snow, making
it sparkle and glisten like diamonds. She couldn’t
tell him that there was beauty in this atmosphere, in
fear that he may want to come back---soon. She would
tell him that she actually began to enjoy it.  She
would tell him someday.
She watched him as he ran the small scanner over the
sector, reading and programming the small machine. She
stretched remembering the uncomfortable sofa bed, and
that horrid hard mattress. Will slept on it without
any type of discomfort what so ever.
“Will?” she yelled
He looked up at her, and acknowledged her voice.
“I can’t hear anything.”  She yelled.
“Please stop yelling, Deanna.” He said fully facing
her now. “What did you expect to hear?” He asked with
a slight turn of his head. “There isn’t anything to
hear.” He explained.
“I thought you had my hood thing on too tight. I
couldn’t hear anything.”
He gave her a lopsided grin, and a quick kiss. He
turned back around and continued his work.
“Will?” she said as she observed the area with her
orange goggle covered eyes.
He either didn’t hear her or simply refused to answer,
she guessed the latter of the two.
“Will?”
“Uh?” He said never looking up from the tri-corder.
“What would you say about me knitting a scarf?”
“A what?” He said turning to face her.
“A scarf.” She repeated. “An eight foot long scarf.”
“Whatever you want to do Deanna.” He said as he walked
around her and began reading the tri-corder in another
direction.
She looked all around her, picked up some snow and
tossed it, until….
“Will?”
He ignored her.
“Will?” she tapped him on the shoulder this time.
“What now, Deanna!” She sensed the aggravation in his
voice
“What’s Worf doing here?” she asked ignoring his
anger.
Her question made him stop his readings and look at
her.
“Deanna, don’t start with the damn questions.” He
warned.
“I’m serious.” She exclaimed. “What’s Worf doing
here?” she repeated, he knew she wasn’t playing around
this time… “Look.” She instructed him, with a serious
tone to her voice.  She raised her arm in the
direction she was referring to.  “He’s standing right
over there.” she insisted.
Will turned his head and looked in the direction of
her orange mitten covered hand.
“What is that?” he questioned to himself.
Standing in the horizon was a huge humanoid figure
covered with fur.
“It’s Worf.” Deanna answered. “With fur.”
“That’s not Worf, Deanna.” He said as he squatted down
and removed another instrument from his backpack.
Upon standing again he noticed that the figure was
gone. “It’s gone.” He sounded almost disappointed.
“Come on.” He instructed as he began to walk towards
the area the humanoid had been seen.
Deanna awkwardly followed. As she tried to maneuver
the snowshoes and the huge orange suit. She felt like
a clown in those ridiculous snowshoes, she walked like
a clown, both knees had to practically reach her waist
in order to ambulate through the knee high snow.
After trudging through the snow for a while, the shoes
finally won.
**PLOP**
She plopped in the snow face first.

Will was beside her instantly, helping her to her
feet.
“Deanna, are you ok?” he asked. Taking his gloved
index finger and wiping off her snow covered goggles.
“Yes.” She answered. “I’m fine.” He was dusting the
snow off that now clung to her bright orange snowsuit.
“I suppose, you’re not going to let me live this one
down are you?”
He stood straight to face her. “If I was the one who
fell clumsily in the snow would you let me live it
down?” he asked, as he held her face between his
gloved hands.
“Probably not.” She stated softly. “But,” she raised
your voice. “You’ve been around snow all of your life.
This is my first experience.” Looking at him with
those big dark sexy kitten eyes she added. “You will
keep quiet about this won’t you?”
Looking down at her, and slowly bending his head, his
lips came closer and closer to hers, she thought he
was going to kiss her, until finally he whispered
against her lips. “Not a chance, Counselor.”
She batted him on the arm, with her mitten-covered
hand.
She could see the laughter in his eyes. “Nice try
though.” He said with a lopsided grin.
He took a hold of her upper arm and helped her
maneuver in the snow. “Come on.” He laughed.
They reached the site where the figure had been.
Strangely there were no tracks, no signs, no evidence
of anything at all. The tri-corder hadn’t detected
anything, no life sign, nothing.
“Whatever that was it’s gone now.” Will said, looking
over at Deanna sensing that she wanted to call it a
day.  Their snow adventure was about to take its toll
on the little Betazoid. “I could use a hot cup of
coffee.” He smiled.  “Let’s take these readings of the
sector and get back to the cabin, okay.”
“Fine with me, Commander.” She gladly complied.

         PENGUINS #5


They made it back to the cabin without any problem,
and Deanna never fell down once, she was quite proud
of her accomplishment.
She didn’t ask any questions, and Will was quite proud
of that accomplishment.
Will had cooked their dinner and they had cleaned up
the tiny kitchen area together.
“Will, what do you think that thing was?” Deanna asked
as she sipped her hot chocolate. “I mean that is if
you’re certain,” she smiled “that it wasn’t Worf.”
“I’m not for sure.” He said taking a seat beside her
on the sofa. “I know that when I was a child, I heard
stories.”
Her eyebrows raised with interest “What kind of
stories?”
“Oh I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Just stories.”
“Well, you can’t leave me without the benefit of
knowing” She urged. “What kind of stories?”
“Deanna, look…” he said as he raised himself up from
the sofa, heading towards the coffeepot. “You’re
already irritated enough about this place.” After
refilling his mug, he turned to sit back down on the
sofa. “ I shouldn’t have even brought it up.”
“No, perhaps you shouldn’t have.” She agreed. “But you
did.”
“How’s your hot chocolate?” he asked, hoping she would
take the hint and change the subject.
“It’s fine.” She answered. “Now, what kind of
stories.” She wasn’t going to let this one rest.
“Deanna, I really don’t want to tell you now, it’s
dark outside.” He said looking towards the window as
if he wanted to prove a point, “and you’ll probably be
scared for the rest of our stay here” Touching her
hand he stated softly. “I promise I will tell you,
when we get back on the ship okay?”
“I don’t scare that easily, Commander.” She reminded
him.
“To be truthful.” He admitted. “Deanna, I don’t want
you to start asking me all those damn questions about
Big Foot.” He paused for a second.  “Okay?”  After
realizing he let his tongue slip about the humanoid’s
name, he said, “You ask enough annoying questions as
it is.”
“Big Foot?” she perked up with excitement. “Is that
what they call it?”
“De-ann-a.” He warned her.
“It’s probably just one of your fairy tales, anyway.”
Deanna rose from the sofa and squatted in front of the
fireplace, as if in thought.
“What’s that?” she shrieked, jumping to her feet.
“It’s just a wolf.” Will answered, behind his
laughter.
“What’s a wolf?” she asked, her eyes big as saucers,
as she slowly walked towards him.
“They are basically part of the canine family. They
howl at night?”
“You grew up listening to those things?”
“Pretty much.”
“No wonder you’re…well, like you are.”
“What the hell does that mean?” he asked, squinting
his eyes.
“I mean…bears, seals, and those waddle little bird
things…” she displayed a wide grin, with mock pity in
her eyes she stated,  “you didn’t have a lot of human
interaction, as a child did you?”
“Penguins, the damn things are Penguins.” He reminded
her.  “I had plenty of human interaction, Deanna.” He
said.
“Oh, yes…penguins” she nodded as she put her empty mug
in the dishpan, that was being used as their temporary
sink.
“I am quite certain that because of you’re lack of
interaction with humans, it’s the one reason why I
tolerate you.” She stated quite seriously.
“You tolerate me?” he asked in disbelief  “How very
charitable of you, Counselor.”
“Yes…I tolerate you,” she said walking towards him,
bending over and placing her hand on his cheek patting
it. “Wolf-Boy.” She smirked just as she took off
across the room.
“Hey, Little Red Riding Hood.” He said with an evil
grin, right before he took off after her.





PENGUINS
CHAPTER 6

Deanna rubbed a clear circle in the frosty fogged
windowpane. Standing at the window looking through the
circle, all she could see was the blinding whiteness
of the snow. It was beautiful. She had to squint her
eyes even looking through the window, to shield her
eyes from its whiteness. Will had insisted that she
stay in the cabin today. Stating that it wasn’t
necessary that she go out with him everyday.  Plus he
said he would only be gone for a couple of hours. So
she hesitantly agreed with him, and stayed inside.
She had cleaned the cabin all that she could clean it,
and she had read some of the padds she had brought
with her. She had even, cooked a pot of stew, so he
would have something warm to eat. She kept the fire
going so that it would be toasty warm when he
returned.
He had been gone for about four and a half-hours and
she was beginning to get lonely. ‘Who could stay out
in the cold for this long’ she wondered. She
immediately reminded herself that she was talking
about William T. Riker.
She heard something outside; it was at the side of the
house. “It must be Will.” She thought as a smile
crossed her face. Quickly grabbing her coat, she ran
outside, to greet him.  Rounding the corner of their
small cabin.
She suddenly stopped, accompanied by a jerk of her
body.
She froze.
Her huge eyes opened in horror as her mouth let out a
huge gasp. She looked like a frightened kitten.
Standing in front of her was a horse…. A big brown,
huge, gigantic horse type creature…with a huge coat
rack thing on its head…it was the ugliest horse she
had ever seen in her life, it just stood there and
ate. It didn’t act like it was even aware of her
presence.  Its mouth was slowly gyrating in circles as
it chewed, and it had huge lips; it took another bite…
“Oh my Gods!” she screamed. Both of her hands
immediately flew over her mouth.
It was eating the side of her cabin. It slowly turned
it ugly head and stared at her, but it continued to
chew, making no attempt to move its body. It just
stared at her as it chewed. This ugly horse was eating
her house.
She slowly backed up not knowing if this fat ugly
horse would eat her too. As soon as she rounded the
corner of her cabin she frantically ran towards the
front door.
Once inside, she slammed the door, and quickly locked
it, and leaned with her back against it. She was
scared to death. Her breathing was heavy, as she held
both hands on her chest across her heart. She was
trembling.
She heard the ugly horse take another bite of her
house.
She immediately thought I need a weapon. Frantically
searching through the cabin for a weapon, she couldn’t
find one. Will had taken the backpack with the weapon
in it with him.
She heard the ugly horse tear off another piece of the
cabin.
“Stop eating my house!” she screamed her demand into
the air. “That’s it! You’re not eating anymore of my
house.” She said as anger filled her face.
“You hear that!” She screamed through the walls of the
cabin. “Lunch is over!”
She searched for a weapon of some kind in order to
drive this cabin-eating monster away.
Suddenly it became quiet.
She slowly went to the front door and opened it.
Sneaking around the corner of her house, she peeked
her head, the ugly horse was gone. All that was there
was its tracks. My screaming must have scared it away
she thought.
Looking down at the ugly horse’s tracks, she noticed
another set of footprints. They looked human, they
were big…they were very big. Scanning the area
attempting to shield her eyes from the glaring rays of
the sun across the snow, she searched.
“Big Foot.” She whispered. “He saved my life.” She
said staring down at the tracks in the snow.
She looked around again. Nothing. Nothing but white.
Running back into the house, she quickly locked the
door. ‘Just in case’ she thought.


PENGUINS
CHAPTER 7



“Deanna, it’s me!” Will pounded on the wooden door.
“I know who you are.” She yelled angrily through the
door. “Go away!”
“DEANNA!” he yelled. 
Turning around she unlocked the door, and opened it.
“What the hell’s wrong with you?” he asked as he
walked through the door, stomping the remaining snow
from his boots.
“Nothing. Commander” she snapped, “I just almost got
eaten by a horse today, that’s all.” Plopping down on
the sofa, “If it hadn’t been for Big Foot, I would
probably be dead by now.”
“What!” he almost yelled.
“Fortunately for me…” she said waving her hand in the
air, “The ugly horse decided to eat the cabin
instead.”
“What-in-the-hell are you talking about?” he said in
disbelief as he unzipped his snowsuit.
“You heard me.” She smirked
“Oh yeah…I heard something, alright.” He said, hanging
up his snowsuit on the rack. “I hear the words of a
trained psychologist, who happens to be going nuts.”
Walking towards her he asked, “Is there any coffee
made?” he held up his hands in surrender “No wait.
Better yet, is there any whiskey?”
“I am not nuts, Commander.” She glared at him. “And
yes, your coffee is on the stove.” Standing up heading
towards the coffeepot, she turned around and glared at
him.  “And if there had happened to be any whiskey, I
assure you… I would have gladly drank…. All…. of it
today.”
She handed him the cup of coffee. “Would you like to
sit down at the table and eat your dinner too?” she
asked politely. “Oh, silly me…I forgot…there isn’t a
table” she smirked. Her voice suddenly transformed
into a yell… “That ugly horse ate it!” She stormed off
towards the sofa plopping herself down on it rather
hard.
Will stood there and watched her in total confusion,
his confusion was slowly turning into anger.
“Deanna, you’re starting to piss me off.” He warned.
“What horse are you talking about?”
“The one that ate our house,” She stated sarcastically
“of course.”
“The ugly horse with those…Those things on its head.”
She attempted to illustrate with her hands, waving
them above her head. “It was eating this cozy little
fortress you have us stay in.”
“This house? A moose was eating this cabin?”
“Well, it certainly wasn’t the neighbors house.”
Will started to laugh, which only made Deanna more
upset.
“It was a moose…. Deanna.” he tried to control the
smile that was spreading across his face.
“Well, the only moose I’ve ever heard of…. Was in a
parfait glass.”
He sat down beside her, she angrily moved four inches
on the sofa away from him.
“Now, what else?” he asked pushing his laughter aside.
Attempting to sound serious.
“Oh, shut up.” She was almost in tears.
“Deanna…. Look. I’m sorry, it’s just that….” He held
her hand.  “I’m sorry…I really am sorry…I won’t laugh
anymore.”
She glared at him.
“I won’t laugh.” He repeated, trying to hide his own
smile. “Please, go on.” He urged her, as he took a
drink of his coffee
“All right…”
He silently nodded only to reassure the fact that he
was listening.
“Then Big Foot ran off the---moose,” she said with a
nod of her head, “and saved my life.”
Will Riker spewed his coffee, sending it halfway
across the room.
“Ugh.” She yelled, as she stood up… “You’re
impossible!” she stomped off into the kitchen area.
“Deanna…” he said turning his body around to face her,
he was still laughing.
“Oh, just forget it….” She said with disgust. “Come
and eat.” She instructed, not really caring if he did
or not.

They ate their dinner in silence. Will had attempted
to talk although Deanna was not interested in anything
he had to say. He would try to touch her and she would
jerk away. He tried to apologize and she would ignore
him. He tried to sit by her and she would move.
“Deanna are you going to give me the silent treatment
all night long?” he finally asked.
She refused to answer him.
“All right, then.” He said clapping his hands
together. “I’m going for a walk, and if the moose
starts to eat the cabin again,” he stated, “ then you
can call your friend, Big Foot.”  he walked towards
the coat rack.
His statement made her look up at him. “You’re going
for a walk… in the dark?” she asked.

PENGUINS
CHAPTER 8


Deanna sat in the cabin alone. Will had been true to
his word, he went for a walk, in the dark and in the
snow. She sat there still angry with him for making a
mockery of everything she told him of the day’s
events.
“Deanna…. It was a moose.” She said aloud to herself,
sarcastically repeating Will’s previous words. “He
made me sound like an imbecile.” She said, as she
stood up and walked towards the window. Looking
through the small windowpane, all she could see was
cold hard blackness. “Well, he’s the imbecile for
bringing me here.”. She immediately regretted her
words. “Okay, so he isn’t exactly an imbecile.” She
quietly said to herself with a smile. She took the
comforter that she had wrapped around her shoulders
and gripped it; she wrapped it tighter around her
body.
She let out a heavy sigh.
Deanna turned from the window and curled up on the
sofa, resting her head on the arm, she slowly began to
drift off to sleep.
She heard a loud noise on the door; Deanna woke up
suddenly, her mind raced. She didn’t know exactly how
long she had been asleep, or how long he had been
pounding on the door.
“Coming” she yelled, slightly disorientated, as she
kicked off the tangled comforter she had securely
wrapped around herself.
She opened the door.
Standing before her was a hairy eight-foot humanoid
type creature. Deanna thought it looked like Worf,
only with fur. Oddly, she felt no danger from the
furred looking wild man. They simply stood there and
observed each other for only a moment. Her eyes
scanned the furred beast, she noticed that it was
holding a small dead animal. The creature simply laid
the slain animal down in front of her; it then quickly
whirled around and took off running. She watched it as
it ran out into the darkness. Deanna looked down at
the dead animal, “Oh my God.” She gasped. It was a
rabbit. Or it had been a rabbit. Not believing what
she was seeing, or what had just happed. “That’s
disgusting!” she exclaimed. Being repulsed, at the
fact that there just happened to be a freshly
murdered, still bleeding rabbit, lying on the floor in
front of her. “What happened to just leaving flowers?”
She asked herself aloud. Leaving the gift where the
creature had gently laid it in front of her.
She angrily yanked her snowsuit from the coat rack.
“The men I attract,” she said aloud as she began to
dress. “Either fly off in some space ship and leave me
standing at the door, or they live in the ice-age and
leave sacrifices at my door.”
It took Deanna at least twenty minutes to put the
entire ensemble of snow gear on. It wouldn’t of taken
her that long, if she hadn’t of been mumbling and
grumbling to herself about penguins, moose, dead
rabbits, snowshoes and cave like snow men.
She grabbed the extra flashlight and was out the door,
in search of Will Riker. To whom, she was going to
demand that he take her back to the ship, or she was
going to kill him. Right now, she elected to do the
latter of the two.

“Deanna?” he called. Stomping off his boots as he
entered the cabin.
“Deanna.” he yelled again. Looking about the small
room. She wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Will glanced up
at the coat rack, noticing that all of her snow gear
was missing.
“This is just great.” he said aloud to himself through
clenched teeth, as he turned and stepped back through
the doorway. He knew that Deanna had ventured out into
the snow in search for him. “What in the hell?” he
said to himself, as he felt something squish beneath
his insulated snow boot. It was the rabbit. The dead
rabbit. “Shit.” He cursed, as he lifted his foot up
and saw the bottom of his boot. “That’s disgusting.”
He stepped out into the dark, snow and ice covered
world, in search for Deanna. He was determined that
once he found her, he was going to either take her
back to the ship, or kill her. Right now, he wanted to
do the latter of the two.
She hadn’t ventured far from the cabin, knowing that
she probably couldn’t find her way home again, she
kept the lights from the cabin windows in constant
view. The longer she walked through the icy
wonderland, the more she thought about Will. Finally
she plopped down in the snow, turning her flashlight
off, she sat there to gather her thoughts. How he was
doing all within his power to make her stay
comfortable. How, it wasn’t his fault the moose ate
the house, or Big Foot decided to leave a gift. I
wasn’t his fault wild wolves’ howl in the middle of
the night.
She was beginning to actually feel sorry for him. She
sat there for a long time just thinking and wondering.
She’d totally forgotten about the cold. Her thermal
snowsuit was keeping her warm.
She let out a big sigh. She laid down in the snow and
studied the stars for a moment.
“What Now!” she heard his angry voice.
“William! You big loaf.” she said as she struggled to
untangle herself from him.
“Deanna?” he asked with concern and surprise.
“Yes…you just tripped over me.” She said, as she
struggled with the snowshoes in order to stand.
Finally giving up, she stayed put, leaning on her
elbows. “Get that light out of my eyes.” She began to
laugh at the sight of him laying face down in the
snow.
He immediately scrambled to his feet.
“What are you doing out here, anyway?” she laughed.
“What am I doing out here?” he squinted. “Well excuse
me Miss Penguin.” He said, “It’s dark out here. There
are a lot of potential dangers out here.” He paused,
“Forgive me, I was worried. I should of known better.
Who else but Deanna Troi would decide to take a stroll
in the Yukon, ” Then he emphasized. “ in twelve
goddamn feet of snow at midnight.”
She laughed at him and tossed a handful of snow in his
face.
“You think this is funny don’t you?” he asked, pulling
her up to a standing position.
“Yes.” She said, brushing the snow off of her
snowsuit.
“Deanna, you could have gotten lost…or worse.” His
voice suddenly taking a concerned tone to it.

“I didn’t go far.” She said, leaning onto him for
support.  She began to trip over the snowshoes.
He pulled her body close to his and embraced her.
“Thank God you’re all right.” He embraced her tighter.
He held her like that for a long time. Her pulled her
away from his body and kissed the tip of her nose.
“Let’s go home.”

“All right.” She said as she took his arm and headed
back towards the cabin.

They had taken about four steps back towards the cabin
when Deanna asked, “ Will, did you find my gift?”
“What gift?” he asked.
“The Rabbit.”
“That was a gift?” he asked in unbelief.
“Yeah.”
“I stepped on it and squished it, Deanna.”
“That’s disgusting, Will.”
“Tell me about it.”
They took a couple more steps towards the cabin.
“Deanna, I’m sure it was injured and crawled up to the
door and just died there.”
“No, it was a gift.” She insisted.
“A gift?”
“Yes.”
“Who would give you such a gift?” Will asked, almost
afraid to but his curiosity was at its peak now.
“Are you jealous?” she stopped walking. “After all you
did stomp my gift…probably in a jealous fury.”
“I didn’t stomp it….” He laughed. “I didn’t know it
was there and I accidentally stepped on it.”
They took about five more steps towards the cabin.
“Are you going to tell me who would leave you such an
exquisite, as you call it ….gift…. Or not?”
“All right, I’ll tell you…It was Big Foot.” She
answered.
“De---ann---na” he said slowly, he stopped walking to
look at her.
“Seriously…Big Foot knocked on the door and laid it
down at my feet, and then he just ran away.”
They walked the rest of the way in silence.
They stood in front of the cabin door, just before
entering Will stopped.
“Deanna.”
“Yeah.”
“I think I liked all of your questions a hell of a lot
better, than your stories.”
“Will since you destroyed my gift in a jealous
rage….”She said, as she walked around him towards the
door. She jumped over the dead rabbit.
“Deanna, I love you.” He said as he walked through the
doorway behind her…. “And when your brain begins to
function normally. Call me, Okay?”
“You can clean that up.”  She turned and pointed to
the mishap on the floor.
“That’s disgusting…It’s…. Squashed.” He said with a
frown.
“Well, all you ever brought me was flowers.”

PENGUINS

CHAPTER 9


Will had gotten all the information that he had needed on the sector. Deanna accompanied him everyday…he had told her that she should stay inside where it was warm, but she refused. Mostly out of fear that some wild animal would start eating their cabin or that Big Foot creature would show up again. He had promised her something exciting today; she was leery of his idea of exciting.

Will was already up and sitting on the lower edge of the rolled out soft-bed when Deanna woke up. He was staring at the fire in the fireplace. She could smell the aroma of coffee as it cooked on their small make shift stove.

"I can’t believe you’re sitting there." She said as she rolled over.

"Well, where else am I suppose to sit?" he asked his eyes fixed on the fireplace. 

"It’s not often I get to see you every morning sitting at the foot of my bed, drinking coffee."

"This isn’t your bed." He sipped his coffee, making a noise as if the liquid was too hot…yet he refused to look at her, "It just happens to be my sofa."

"Is your coffee too hot?" she laughed.

"A little."

"Will?"

"Hmm."

She crawled down to the edge of the bed where he was…and planted small kisses on his neck. He sat the cup of coffee on the floor beside the bed.

"So…" he said with a smile, turning to look at her. "You definitely know how to get my attention, don’t you?"

"I think so."

He took her in his arms and kissed her, as he lowered her back onto the bed.

They lay in each other’s arms afterwards…

"Hey, I was thinking." Will said, "That we could go to the shoreline today, and then you could possibly see some real penguins."

"And…." She asked.

"And…. We could do a little ice fishing." 
"That’s what I thought." She laughed as she unwound her body from his and jumped out of bed. "I’ve never fished in my life. I don’t even know what an ice fish is?" she said as she began to get dressed, putting on her thermal underwear bottoms.

"Deanna…" he laughed, "they aren’t ice fish…you cut a hole in the ice and fish through the hole." He said, "I can teach you."

"You mean, we stand on frozen water and fish?" she said putting on her thermal underwear shirt.

"Something like that." He smiled as he sat at the side of the bed. 

"There’s real penguins there?" She smiled, as she pulled up her pants with a slight hop, and fastened them. 

"Hopefully there will be." He said stepping into his trousers.

"All right…. I’m game if you are." she asked pulling her shirt down.

"Great!" he said, "We can leave as soon as we have something to eat." He sounded like a little boy getting ready for an adventure.

"I know that tone of voice, Will." Deanna stated skeptically.

"What tone of voice?" he said putting his sweatshirt on over his head.

"That tone." She said, as she pulled her turtleneck sweater down.

"How many clothes are you going to wear, Deanna?" he asked with a lopsided grin.

"Enough." She simply said as she began to put on her socks.

"I’m glad you don’t sleep in all that garb." 

"I’ve got you to keep me warm in bed." She quickly kissed him on the cheek in passing and went towards the small kitchen.

"Want some too old, burnt coffee?" 

"Only, if it’s too hot and we can go for round two." He answered putting on his heavy snow boots. 

"I’ll make some fresh coffee." she replied. "You’ll need all the caffeine you can get, if we go round two." She teased.

"And you’ll need all the caffeine you can get…" he said walking over to her, "if you have to take off all those damn clothes." He said kissing her cheek quickly.



They were standing at the shoreline, and Deanna was fascinated… the coastal area was frozen solid…you couldn’t tell where the snow stopped and the water began…. Everything was covered in ice and snow.

"Will…where’s the beach?" she asked playfully.

He simply just stuck his tongue out at her. 

"Now that’s the sign of a great starship, Commander." She stated. "In weather like this…wouldn’t it be wonderful if your tongue froze like that?"

Will was busy getting the fishing gear together… "I’ve got to go out in the middle of that ice and cut a hole."

"Okay." She stated… "You want me to go with you?"

"Deanna, you can hardly walk in the snow…how do you expect to ambulate on the ice?"

"All right." She said, with a grin… "You can just slide on out there…but if a penguin eats you."

"Deanna there aren’t any penguins around here." He said grabbing a tool saw out of the backpack.

"Oh." She said, scanning the area with her eyes. "There isn’t much of anything around here, but ice and snow."

"Will?"

"What?" he said as he began to walk out onto the ice.

"Be careful…I love you."

"I will, and I love you too."

Will was about halfway across the frozen rink of ice, when he looked back and saw Deanna…jumping up and down. She was waving her arms wildly above her head. With her bright orange suit on, she looked as if she were trying to land a plane.

"What!" he yelled. "What is it? Are you okay?" he yelled across the frozen water. 

"Write… if …you…find work." She yelled back at him. He could see her wide grin as she stood there on the shoreline, watching him.

Will looked at her, and began to shake his head, he couldn’t hide his smile, or his laughter. He knew Deanna was teasing him, "Gods, I love that nut." He said to himself. 

Just as he was about to begin to take another step.

**Whoooooop**

Will Riker’s feet flipped out from under him, with such force he almost touched his forehead with the toe of his boot, and he slammed himself on the ice.

Hard.

"Damn." He said, as he lay flat looking up at the sky.

"Will!" Deanna yelled. "Are you all right?" 

"I’m ok…" he yelled as he awkwardly attempted to stand. "I just busted my ass, that’s all." He said to himself

He waved to Deanna, giving a sign to her that he was indeed all right.

"She’s never going to let me live that one down." he said as he picked up the pack, rubbing his butt.

Penguins. Chapter 10

Will had set up all of the necessary equipment that was needed in order for him to go ice fishing. Looking back at the shoreline, he noticed Deanna as she stood watching him.

"You can come out here if you want to." He yelled.

"Come and get me." She yelled back her instruction.

Will rolled his eyes…"come and get me…" he mocked her words to himself.

"All right." Taking a step forward, "I’ll come and get you." He yelled.

Step by step he eased his way across the frozen ice.

***WHOOOOOOP***

The six foot four, one hundred and ninety eight pound giant fell.

With a thud.

"Son of a bitch…" he whispered his curse, as slowly stood to his feet.

"Will!" Deanna half-yelled and half-laughed. "Are you all right?"

"I’m all right." He yelled, as he corrected his posture. He waved a silent okay sign.

Slowly.

Step

by

step.

He carefully walked across the slippery frozen walkway.

He only had about ten more steps to make it to Deanna.

***WHOOOOOP****

His feet flew out from under him and he almost touched the toe of his boot to his head, the landed on the ice.

Hard.

Deanna was laughing now. "You need some help?"

"Deanna," he said as he rolled over, positioning his body in a crawling stance on the ice. "Kiss my butt." He stated as he began to crawl across the ice towards her.

"Why? You want me to make the ow-wie go away?" she laughed.

He could almost reach her now, yet he continued to crawl across the slippery ice.

"I always said," she laughed, "One of these days you’d come back crawling to me, Commander."

"Shut up, Deanna." He smirked as he stood to her feet.

Finally reaching the shoreline he extended his hand out to her, "Okay, lets go."

"Back out there?" she asked, refusing his hand.

"Yes, back out there." He said

"No way, am I going out there."

"Deanna, damn it!" he said, "You asked me…"

"Will Look!" Deanna quickly cut him off, as she yelled in excitement.

Turning his head he looked at what she was so excited about…

"It’s a big whale." She squealed, "With teeth."

"Deanna, that’s a walrus." Will laughed as he looked across the water.

"I’ve never seen a walrus." She said, awestruck by the sight of the huge creature that was now bobbing its head up and down in the water. "They’re beautiful." She whispered.

Ignoring the walrus, Will looked at Deanna "Are you going ice fishing or not?" he asked.

"Out there?" she asked

"Yes." Was his urgent answer.

"I am certainly not going out there with that saber toothed whale." She couldn’t believe he would ask such a question. Waving an orange mitten at the walrus.

"Saber toothed whale?" he said with a lopsided grin. "They are more afraid of us than we are of them, Deanna."

"I wouldn’t bet on that, Commander." She said, never taking her eyes from the walrus.

"It’s safe, believe me."

"I witnessed your safe….how’s your butt anyway?" she asked with a wide grin. "You certainly fell on it quite a few times."

PENGUINS #11

"Me…falling on my backside is amusing to you?" he asked in disbelief "I could have been killed, or crippled for life and you’re standing here making a mockery of it?"

"Yes." She answered with a huge grin.

"And I suppose your going to tell everyone on the Enterprise about me crawling to you?"

"You can bet on that." She said victoriously.

"Deanna." He stated with big ocean blue puppy eyes. "My reputation is at stake here…where’s that compassionate counselor that we have all grown to love?"

"Oh, Will don’t you know…" She stated in her most compassionate seductive voice, wrapping both arms around his neck, she nestled up to him, her face was only millimeters from his, and he closed his eyes waiting for her kiss. "The ugly horse ate her." She whispered into his lips. Quickly turning on her heels, she ran towards a big hill of snow.

He stood there, dumbfounded as he watched her scramble up the powdery hill and slide down on the other side out of sight. He stood there for a long time, he sighed and then stated to himself… "I’m gonna kill her."

Then he heard her scream. "WILLLLLL!!!"

"Deanna." He yelled as he quickly ran across the snow, towards her cry for help.

Quickly climbing the hill of snow, he stood on top and searched for the bright orange snowsuit, it was no where to be seen. All he could see was small hills of snow and ice. He quickly slid down the embankment of snow. Yelling her name over and over. His heart began to pound against his chest, his brain whirled at the thoughts of some wild arctic animal mauling her body. He stood at the bottom of the hill and yelled her name again. Praying that he would get an answer.

"Hey!" he heard her voice. Followed by an attack of snowballs. Dodging the huge balls of snow, he turned at the waist to keep them from hitting his face. "Got cha!" he heard her yell.

Quickly finding a hill of snow for cover. He yelled at his orange suited female enemy. "You want a fight?" as he began to ball snow up between his gloved hands. "I used to be pretty good at snowball fights." He said as he bombarded one towards her hill, quickly ducking for cover.

"Yes, about as good as you walk on ice." He heard her yell as two more balls of snow that zoomed past him. "She’s good." He said in amazement as he dodged another snowball, as it soared by him barely missing his head.

Will threw three balls of snow in her direction, he smirked as one made contact. He was ready to throw the fourth one when he heard her cry, "owwww."

"Deanna?" He said as he came out from beyond his snowy fortress, "I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to throw it so hard.." He saw Deanna crouched over holding her head. "Are you all right?" he asked crouched down to face her, reaching out to gently lay his hand on her shoulder.

**SPLATTT!**

A huge snowball smeared across his face, knocking him backwards in the snow. "I’m fine." She laughed, "And I won." She smiled in triumph

Taking one of his gloved hands he slowly wiped the snow off of his goggles. "You cheated." He informed her, looking up at her as she danced around him… "Cheated?" she sounded shocked.

"Yes, you cheated." He said, between spits of snow.

"How?" she asked lowering her face down to his.

"This isn’t allowed." taking a handful of snow and splatting it into her face.

"Will!" she sputtered.

"That’s cheating" He said scrambling to his feet. "Now you know." He added brushing the snow off of his orange suit.

"You’re a bully." She huffed.

"I am not a bully, Deanna." He stated quietly, "There are certain rules in combat one must engage, in order to properly conduct a snowball fight, that’s all."

"Well, you can engage…" she said with a poke of her mitten in his chest. "By yourself." She stormed off in the opposite direction.

"Sore loser…." He stated, as he followed behind her.

"I didn’t lose."

"Yes." He was walking along side of her now. "You did."

"I did not." She said as she continued to walk towards the shoreline. "You lost, and there are no rules to snowball fighting."

"There are rules, Deanna."

"Who do I need to ask for the manual, commander?" she asked, "Those little birds that…."

"Oh my Gods…" he heard her whisper. As she came to a sudden halt. "Listen."

"What?" he asked looking around. "What do you hear, Deanna?"

"Shhhhh." She swatted him on the arm, with her orange mitten covered hand.

"Come on!" she instructed with a wave of her arm as she awkwardly ran off towards the shoreline.

"Look." She said in awe…as she laid on her stomach behind a hill of snow. Will laid down on his stomach beside her.

Around the shoreline were thousands of penguins, all squawking and waddling about. Some were laying down. Some were running about. They watched silently as the young ones, the old ones, and even the smaller babies all dawdled along the shoreline. There were all sorts and varieties of the arctic birds.

"I want one." She stated slowly. "They’re sooooo cute."

"You what?" he whispered back in disbelief.

"I want one." She whispered.

"Deanna, are you nuts?" he whispered through squinted eyes. "There are a million birds down there."

"Well, you certainly could catch one, couldn’t you?"

"One?…You want just one?" he whispered in confusion.

"Yes, just one." She answered in a low tone never removing her eyes from the flock of birds.

"And I suppose you want me to grab….just one?" he couldn’t believe what she was asking.

"What in the hell are you going to do with a penguin on the Enterprise, Deanna?"

Deanna didn’t answer, She just looked over at him with pleading eyes…knowing he would do whatever she asked him to do.

"No!" he protested.

"Will?" it was more of a plea than his name.

"De—ann—a," he warned, knowing he was going to lose this battle… "don’t look at me that way."

"Pleeeeease."

"Damn it….Alright." he was already on his feet. He mumbled to himself all the way down the hill…." I can see it now, William T. Riker, not the starship Captain, hell no….William T. Riker…. the great white penguin hunter…a penguin of all things….How in the hell do you catch one?"

PENGUINS #12

Will quietly crawled on towards the penguin nest… ‘She wants a penguin?" he muffled to himself… ‘She wants a penguin?’ the more he said it to himself the more it sounded bizarre. He was crawling on his belly like a snake.

Before him there were millions of penguins. "How in the hell do you catch a penguin?" he thought.

The closer Riker got to the penguin nest the louder the noise became, and the smellier the smell…actually the smell was horrific.

Riker stood on his feet and walked slowly to the nest, tiptoeing on the firmly packed down snow and ice along the shoreline. he held his breath against the smell of the black and white birds. Suddenly, the birds became aware of danger, they all began to squawk and they all turned towards Riker and rushed towards the water. "Oh shit!" he yelled as the birds made their way towards him…. He covered his head with his arms and waited for the onslaught of birds.

Riker was in the midst of the now panicked penguins, thousands of birds stampeded around him. He quickly nabbed one, a little one.

Wrong!

The little bird began to squawk a type of loud warning…. A chirping sound that was all too familiar to the other birds. The larger birds recognized it, and turned towards the intruder.

The birds immediately came to the little penguins’ rescue, by trampling on Riker…knocking him to his feet.

He let the little birds go…. as it waddled off towards the water, surrounded by the larger birds. He lay there on the snow-covered ice; belly down, as thousands of birds waddled over his orange snowsuit…

The penguins began to dolphin once in the water, swimming at great speeds towards the floating ice islands that were in the middle of the sea….

Riker felt like a truck had hit him, slowly rising to his feet. He looked out across the water. The penguins were all squawking. "Damn Birds." Riker said as he stood to his feet. He noticed a penguin that was standing on the shoreline; it was slowly making its way to the water. It waddled across the snow, slowly making its way towards the ice. He quickly ran after it…and grabbed it…wrestling it to the ground.

Holding it securely, with his arms wrapped around it…he let out a huge sigh, as he began his journey back towards Deanna.

He had the penguin…and then…the fat little bird that weighed fifty pounds…puked. The vomit centered itself, on the front of his orange snowsuit.

"OH GODS." Riker said in disgust, "Now, that’s disgusting."

The frightened bird puked again….

Riker felt his stomach churn, out of disgust, he immediately dropped the bird. The slow fat little bird scurried as best it could towards the water.

"Will! Are you all right?" Deanna was walking at full speed, (the best she could) in the snow covered icy banks.

"That nasty little bastard regurgitated." He said holding both arms as his side, away from his body.

"Are you okay?" she yelled as she made her way towards him.

"And I got penguin poop all over me." He said to himself as he looked at his snowsuit.

"Are you all right?" she asked as she came closer to him…"EWWWW" she said looking at his snowsuit. "Is that?" she said between breaths.

"It’s Penguin SHIT, Deanna!"

Deanna attempted to startle her laugh, but Riker could see it in the white clouds of her breath…

"Oh and that’s not ALL" he yelled.

"Did you get me a penguin?" she asked innocently.

"Did I what!" he couldn’t’ believe this…."Hell no! I didn’t’ get you a penguin…"

"Why?" she asked with a tilt of her head.

"Why?" he inhaled and exhaled. "First of all…I got trampled, then shit on…and then one of the waddle nasty little fat squawking creatures, puked on me, Deanna."

"Yuck. That’s disgusting."

"Yeah…. Yuck."

"Why didn’t’ you tell me they vomit? I certainly don’t want one if they do that…"

"I must have missed that in my Arctic penguin class…" he smarted off, "If I had known what the damn thing was going to do…." He then raised his voice; "My ass wouldn’t be here, covered in penguin puke!"

They heard a growl…slowly turning their heads towards the sound. They both widened their eyes at the sight of a great white polar bear. Standing upright on both hind feet, its full height had to be almost ten feet…it rolled its neck and roared.

"Holy shit!" Riker said as he looked at the white beast, grabbing Deanna’s hand they took off towards the snowy banks of the water.

"Let’s go home, Will." Deanna suggested when they had realized that the huge white beast hadn’t chased after them.

"Back to the cabin?" he looked at her… "Sounds good to me."

"No, back to the Enterprise…" He gave her and odd glance. "Will, you stink." She stated bluntly. "You definitely need a BATH a long hot soapy."

"All right…. We go home." He agreed putting an arm around her shoulder…she nudged it away and took two steps away from him.

"No offense…. But." she trailed off.placing a mittened hand over her nose. "Look what I found…" she happily stated, pulling a round object out of her snowsuit…. Ignoring the look on his face.

"What is that?" he asked with a squint of his eyes. "Deanna, that’s a penguin egg!"

"Yeah…" she stated proudly

"You’re not taking that back to the ship are you?"

"Yes…it’s actually hollow, though…" she said with a smile. "It will be a constant reminder of our time here in this winter wonderland. A small souvenir, that I can show Beverly, and Data….and Geordi….and….Worf….and Captain Picard." She teased as she walked ahead of him.

"Oh shit." He said under his breath, as he followed behind her, knowing that once they were back on the ship….he would definitely be the brunt of all penguin jokes…. For the rest of his life.

THE END