Chapter 1
Standing in the Mess Hall in his cleanest uniform, Captain Jonathan Archer watched the stewards with an eagle eye as they laid out the tables with freshly prepared food from the galley. Plates with carefully presented salads, neatly cut triangular sandwiches, sliced vegetables and remekins with various dips. All were being brought out and set down carefully so as not to disturb how chef had presented them. Finally, jugs of juices and wines were brought out and placed on the table nearest the windows. Archer was overseeing it all. Everything had to be perfect for their guests, a group of alien scientists that had come to collect data on the nearby blue giant, known to Humans as Bellatrix, a star in the night sky that formed part of the constellation Orion.
The Captain spent a moment or two looking out at the blue giant star. They were almost two hundred and fifty light years away from Earth, and this star was visible in the night sky, and now here he was looking at it in all it's true glory. When he was a child, he used to look up at the stars, and wonder if he would ever see any of them, up close. Now, six years after they had started their mission into deep space, they had seen at least a few of those stars that he used to wonder about. A truly amazing feeling that not many humans got the chance to experience. Maybe one day more would. Maybe one day bigger, faster ships would be built to take his species even further and meet other new civilisations. But for now, he was enjoying just looking out at Bellatrix.
He had almost completely forgotten what he was doing in the Mess Hall till he vaguely heard the swoosh of the door and a few seconds later a familiar voice sounded to his left. "The Janens will be here in just a few minutes. Captain Auran needs to transmit their latest data transmission back to their homeworld." The officer reported in their usual calm voice.
Captain Archer nodded his head slightly before turning to look back into the room at the busy crewmen. "Thank you, T'Pol."
"Commander Tucker also sends his apologies, but he will be delayed." She added, knowing he wouldn't be too happy with those words.
"What's his excuse this time?"
"He didn't go into too much detail, but it's to do with holes in uniform while changing."
Jonathan had to concentrate very hard not to blurt out a laugh that now threatened to be heard. Tucker certainly was inventive when it came time for excuses to miss things. The last staff meeting which he missed over half of was due to a "missing tool" that he had aparently misplaced and spent the time looking for. Rostov later confirmed that that was untrue. He used the excuse of needing to write a letter back home to his parents in order to delay his annual physical in Sick Bay, but Archer later learned, via Hoshi, that the letter had been sent twenty minutes before the appointment had been scheduled. Needless to say, due to his faffing around, the appointment was made for later that day and he had T'Pol shadowing him the whole time to ensure he would attend.
"I'm sure the quartermaster will get it patched up in no time. Or he should learn how to sew." He replied, still trying to stifle a laugh. The corners of his mouth so very nearly turned up into a smile and his cheek muscles were slightly tensed.
T'Pol stared at her Captain for a moment or two. Deep down she had found Trip's little accident sightly amusing, very deep down, but the Vulcan Science Officer failed to see why Archer found it amusing enough for the need to stop himself from making such a sound. She turned to face the same way as Archer, watching as the last few items such as plates and glasses were brought into the room, and very quickly the stewards disappeared, leaving the two senior officers on their own. "Most likely." She replied. "Lieutenant Reed is waiting by the starboard docking port for us."
Archer nodded his head once again. "We'd better join him." He started to head for the door with T'Pol following closely behind. "How many officers and guns has he brought along with him?" He knew what his chief Armoury Officer was like, especially with visitors on board.
"He said he would be alone and unarmed." The Vulcan replied, her words causing Archer to turn his head sharply to look at her, half expecting it to be a rare Vulcan joke, but as usual her face was expressionless. T'Pol had picked up a few of Trip's bad jokes in the last couple of years.
Jonathan raised an eyebrow quiestioningly at her. "Alone?"
"Mr Reed said he was giving you the benefit of the doubt and trusting your instincts on this occasion." T'Pol's hands were clasped behind her back as usual. Her purple duty uniform was immaculate as always. She took pride in her uniforms and they very rarely got any sort of mark on them.
Captain Archer sighed slightly and opened the door, being the gentleman that he was he stepped to one side and allowed T'Pol to go through first. He then followed. "That doesn't sound like Malcolm at all."
"Indeed." She nodded her head.
Together they walked along the corridor round to the airlock, which was just a few metres away. They had just arrived when a voice sounded over the intercomm.
"Bridge to Captain Archer."
The man moved to the panel and pressed the little white button at the bottom, speaking into the microphone. "Archer here."
"Captain Auran says he's ready to begin docking procedures." Hoshi announced from her station up on the Bridge.
"Tell him he has a go." He closed the comm line and stood back, waiting patiently.
Malcolm Reed wetted his lips as he watched his commanding officer. "Shouldn't we wait for Commander Tucker?" He asked, standing on Archer's right hand side a step or two behind him.
"He'll be joining us later."
Lieutenant Reed sighed slightly, crossing his arms over his chest. "What's his excuse this time?" He knew what his friend was like, wanting to spend just a little longer with his precious engine was he? Not wanting to make a fool of himself like he did last time they met a new species?
"Wardrobe crisis." Archer turned to look at Malcolm. "I think he's been helping himself to extra servings of Pecan Pie when no one else has been watching." Once again the calm composure of the Captain was almost threatened, but he managed to just about keep it in check.
The Armoury Officer smiled, and had a little chuckle to himself, he knew the Captain wouldn't mind that, they were close friends, the three of them. "Perhaps extra drills are needed for him during the senior officer training sessions."
Archer nodded in agreement. "Sounds like an excellent idea to me." A small smile crept onto his face at last. 'That should teach him a lesson.'
His thoughts were cut short a moment or two later by the slight jolt of the Janen's vessel making contact with Enterprise. The red light soon went out and the green one underneath it lit up.
"Docking complete, airlock sealed." The Brit reported, even though Archer knew exactly what the lights and beeps meant, policy stated that all officers should have the running commentary, especially around the Captain, although sometimes Archer seemed to let Trip do it without needing to narrate.
"Let's give them a big warm Starfleet welcome." He looked between T'Pol and Malcolm with a slight smile beofre looking back at the door and waited patiently.
Malcolm stepped forward and pushed another four buttons, three lower down and one near the top of he panel, to open the air lock door. So many buttons to press on a daily basis, after a few weeks anyone would be sure to notice that their thumbs or index fingers would be getting stronger due to how often a button needed to be pressed.
There was a split second delay before the door slid back to reveal six aliens standing the other side. Most of their appearance was like a Human's, the most obvious difference was that of the yellow pigment to their skin, being slightly taller in stature and two small, stubby horns in the middle of their foreheads, high up, practically to the hairline which appeared to be a little further back as well. Their eyes varied in colour from light yellows to dark browns, but not one of them had blue or green. These were the Janens, their guests on board Enterprise. Being quite a short person in the first place, Malcolm Reed had to lift his head up quite a bit to be able to take in the appearance of these aliens.
Archer stepped forward, smiling softly to them, holding out a hand towards them. "Welcome aboard the Enterprise."
The man at the lead of the group took a couple of steps towards him, having exchanged general greeting information earlier, via Hoshi, he was ready for the traditional Human greeting of a hand shake and shook Archer's outstretched hand firmly. "Captain Archer." A wide grin spread across his features. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person." He let go of the Captain's hand and stepped back, placing his left palm on his right chest where his heart was and then bowed his head low in respect. This was the customary greeting on his own planet, a planet they had said was about twenty light years away. Captain Archer returned the gesture in kind, being very careful not to place his hand where his heart was on the left as that meant something completely different, and not very nice. Pleased with the gesture he continued to introduce the men with him. "May I introduce my first officer, Commander Prell; my Chief of Security, Sub Lieutenant Vanek; and crewmen Hanet, Javel and Forissa." It was obvious that Forissa was a female as she didn't have the cranial horns. As each name was announced they performed the greeting, to which Archer was obligated to repeat in kind.
"It's a pleasure to have you all aboard. This is Commander T'Pol, my science officer." The female Vulcan bowed her head slightly. "And Lieutenant Malcolm Reed, my tactical Officer."
"Gentlemen, ma'am." The Englishman also bowed his head.
Captain Auran nodded back to each of them, clasping his hands together in anticipation of a tour of the Starfleet vessel. "From the outside your vessel looks fairly impressive. I'm hoping it's just as impressive on the inside."
"Hopefully more so." The two Captains smiled at each other, getting along like a house on fire. "Would you like the tour first, or something to eat?"
Auran took a few moments to think, looking at his crew behind him. "I think we should work up an appetite first."
Archer nodded in agreement. "This way, please." He stated, inviting the Janen Captain to walk and talk beside him as they toured the vessel. T'Pol and Reed followed, joining in with the conversation when questions were asked of them or if they had questions of their own to ask.
The tour of Enterprise took them practically all over the ship; starting off in engineering, then a trip down to sickbay, the science labs, the gym and launch bays. Before their arrival, Archer and Reed had agreed not to show them the Armoury, and of course the Bridge was not part of the sight seeing.
It was a good hour and a half before the small group finally arrived at the Mess Hall.
"This is where most of the crew have their meals. Most of it is freshly prepared by our chef in the galley, but we do have access to a protein resequencer when the need arises, which isn't too often." Archer began to explain as he stepped over the threshold. Once inside he paused for a moment, spotting the very tardy Commander Tucker.
"And is this your chef?" Sub Lieutenant Vanek queried, pointing at the Engineer.
Archer shook his head with a bit of a laugh. "No." He led them over to his friend. "This is Commander Charles Tucker, my Chief Engineer."
"Pleased to meet you." Trip said and slowly, but surely, greeted them with their gesture. He was a little uncertain at first but became a little more confident when he saw them doing the same.
Once the greeting was over Archer began to usher them over to the tables. "Chef has prepared some tradtional Earth food for you to sample."
"It looks very nice." Forissa commented, her yellow eyes scanning over the various plates and bowls. She picked up one of the sandwiches and sniffed it slightly before taking a small bite out of one corner.
"Your chef must have gone to a lot of trouble just for us." Prell said as his brown eyes locked onto a plate of salad and picked up a lettuce leaf, nibbling on the greenery.
Archer smiled slightly. "He's the best in Starfleet." As the Janen crew members began to sample the food, with Malcolm and T'Pol standing by, assisting them with the servings and the drinks, Captain Archer moved to stand close to Trip. His voice lowered to a whisper, a hint of anger in his tone. "You are late, Commander."
"Sorry, Cap'n. Didn't T'Pol pass on a message to ya?" Trip's eyes followed the Captain very closely. He wasn't usuall this angry with tardiness.
"She did." He nodded. "But I didn't expect you to be this late. You're nearly two hours overdue, so you'd better have a good explination for this!"
"The um… rip… was worse than first thought. The Quartermaster said he wouldn't be able to fix it in time so then I had to go and clean another uniform." He explained, then pointed to his sleeve where there was a dark stain visible, left over from the previous night's dinner. "It's not perfect, but I needed something."
Archer turned so he could watch the Janens, to see their reactions as they bit into the sandwiches and sipped the wine. "Couldn't you have borrowed someone else's uniform for a while? Or better still, stop helping yourself to extra servings of desert at meal times!" Before the Engineer had any chance to respond to his friend, Jonathan stepped away to be able to chat with his guests, doing his best to explain to the aliens what the food was that they were eating.
Trip stood there feeling a little embarassed by the situation. Archer was right, he proabably could have borrowed a uniform from a colleague, surely someone would have been kind enough to do so. Oh well, what was done was done, no use worrying over what would be incredibly difficult, not to mention very wrong, to change. After taking a couple of long, slow breaths, he stepped forward and began to converse with their visitors. Yep, this was tuning out to be the best First Contact they had had.