Commander Charles Tucker was hidden behind a torpedo. His weapon in his hands. He knew that Lieutenant Malcolm Reed would be on duty any minute now and he a slight score to settle with the head of security.

The chief engineer had been off duty for a couple of weeks due to his damaged spine, slipping on the banana skin that Malcolm had thrown on the floor in the Mess Hall. Malcolm had even avoided going to see his friend in sickbay or his quarters for fear of being hit.

Trip had only been let out of sickbay that morning and so Reed had no idea that he was back on duty.

The first thing Tucker had done after leaving sickbay was to head over to the galley and have a little chat with Chef… luckily he had just what Trip wanted.

"Lieutenant, Sir! Today's report!" A young crewman marched over to Lieutenant Reed as he entered the Armoury.

"Thank you Crewman." Reed replied as he took the PADD from the young officer and glanced around the Armoury. He then moved over to a weapons cabinet and began to check that all weapons were present and correct. As he did so he also checked that the officers on duty were working well and looking respectable.

As quietly as he could, Trip took a bit out of the slice of watermelon he had in his hands. He chewed around and swallowed the succulent red flesh of the fruit, until all he had left were several small black seeds in his mouth. He looked over to Crewman Daniel Brett and gave him a nod when he knew he was looking.

Brett bent down under the control panel in front of him and pulled out a cable. "Lieutenant!" he called his voice filled with urgency.

"What's wrong crewman?" Reed asked as he moved over to Brett.

"I don't know sir. The targeting scanners have gone offline!"

"That's the fourth time this week." He sighed "Ow!" he suddenly cried as he felt a sharp pain at the back of his head. He rubbed the spot with his hand, looking down at the floor he saw a black spot. He bent down and picked it up. "Ow!" another seed hit him on the tip of his ear. Reed span round and saw Trip holding the watermelon.

Instantly Reed was bombarded with watermelon seeds. Hitting him everywhere. The security officers on duty tried very hard not to laugh as they watched Malcolm dancing around trying to avoid the seeds. He tried to hide behind the torpedoes, but the tine seeds still managed to find their way to his unprotected body.

Surprisingly Trip's aim was very accurate, although one stray seed did hit Ensign Richardson on the nose, and another hit Ensign Hurd on the back of her hand.

Once the bombardment had stopped Trip stood up and Malcolm stood straight.

"Thank you for that Commander."

There was a loud click as Brett reconnected the power to the targeting scanners.

"Hey I was only getting revenge for the banana you made me lip up on and then ran off without helping me!"

"Sorry… I thought I had something to do." There was a short pause. Reed took a couple of steps towards the engineer. The Englishman held out his right hand to Trip. "Truce?"

Trip nodded his head. He took Reed's hand and shook it firmly. "Truce."