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Nothing Overlooked

Beauty had been sorely missing from her life lately, which meant that Hoshi was unusually appreciative of the vista in front of her. She smiled and took a deep breath after climbing out of the shuttlepod. It was the first time she'd been in fresh air since Enterprise had entered the Delphic Expanse several weeks ago.

Her companion wasn't as appreciative. "It's cold out here," muttered Travis as he clambered out of the pod.

"We brought our jackets. Come on, we don't have much time."

Scans had suggested that the hundred-year-old ruins on the planet were based on Xindi technology, and the two officers had been sent down to look for anything useful. Hoshi knew it was a long shot, but lately they'd been pursuing every line of inquiry they could find.

Besides, there were other reasons for this trip, even if she wasn't privy to all of the details. They couldn't afford to overlook anything in the Expanse – not hints of Xindi technology, not ways to maintain their safety, and especially not ways to keep morale up. It was shaping up to be a very long mission.

Despite the lack of bio-signs, they'd set down a couple of kilometers from the ruins. It never hurt to be cautious. Unfortunately, it also meant they'd have a bit of a hike.

Travis was already striding toward the wooded area that separated them from the ruins. Zipping up her jacket, Hoshi followed, but she couldn't help but take another look at the vista.

"Beautiful," she breathed. Emerald-colored grass gave way to forests full of trees with big, lush leaves and moss covering their trunks.

"It's all one color," said Travis. "Green."

"One? Don't you see all the different shades?"

"Green is still just green."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, at least the air is fresh. That's something."

"If you say so." He hadn't even interrupted his stride. She hurried after, not bothering to continue the conversation given his obvious lack of interest.

Fifteen minutes later, they came to the edge of the woods and found a large lake. A perfect cerulean sky arched above them, its color turning almost sapphire when reflected in the water. Hoshi sighed happily.

"You'd think the place would be a little less monochromatic," said Travis.

"I wouldn't call it that. Not with both green and blue."

"Yeah, but the green is all in one place and the blue is in another. I like my colors mixed together." He looked around and sighed. "This is boring. And pointless."

Speaking of morale…

She'd taken the scanner out, but dropped it into a pocket without turning it on. "You're determined to be in a bad mood today, aren't you?"

"Why not? The captain sends us down on a useless mission –"

"These are Xindi ruins. That's not exactly useless."

"If they're so useful, why isn't he down here himself? Or T'Pol?"

"You know the answer to that." Her voice had gotten tight, but some part of her was glad Travis had finally started talking. Maybe it would help with whatever was bothering him. "She's still recovering from the encounter with the Seleya. And maybe the captain just wanted to give us some time off the ship. I don't know about you, but I was on the verge of cabin fever."

"Cabin fever? At least you don't have to share with a MACO."

"All the more reason to appreciate a chance to get away." She took a breath and gentled her tone. "This isn't like you. Want to tell me what's wrong?"

His face hardened. "Nothing."

"Why don't I believe that?"

"Believe whatever you want." Turning away, he started to stalk around the edge of the lake. She nearly had to run to keep up with him.

=/\=

They didn't find much in the ruins and were back in the shuttlepod a few hours later. Hoshi reviewed her scans, hoping she'd simply missed something, but other than a few traces of Xindi power signatures, the results did little more than confirm what little they already knew.

Leaning back in the co-pilot's seat as they ascended, Hoshi sighed. It really had been a beautiful planet, but they had a mission.

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Travis' bad mood seemed to have abated somewhat, but he was still definitely not acting normally.

She glanced sideways at him, hoping this wasn't going to last. It wouldn't do for him to still be in a bad mood once they landed. "Will you tell me what's bothering you now?"

His face closed again. "I told you. I'm fine."

"You're not acting that way. You've been downright grumpy today."

He shrugged. "Then I'm being grumpy. So what?"

"It's not like you."

"Maybe I'm just having an off day," he snapped. "Hell, it doesn't matter, does it? I spend day after day trying to navigate Enterprise through a practical minefield of anomalies, chasing people that might have caused the attack on Earth –"

"Captain Archer had evidence –"

"Captain Archer has the word of someone we already know is biased against humans! So we could be on the wrong track entirely, and I'm stuck sharing my quarters with a compulsive neat freak. Not to mention…" he suddenly trailed off, sighing. "I'm sorry, Hoshi. I didn't mean to take this out on you."

But she'd caught what he hadn't said. "Not to mention what?"

"Nothing," he answered. "Really. It's just…me being stupid."

Ah hah. She knew what the cause was now, but she had to make sure she didn't give herself away. Schooling her features, Hoshi answered, "I doubt that."

He gave her a sideways look, but didn't answer. She pulled her scanner back out and concentrated on the readings for the rest of the trip, even though she knew it was little more than a distraction.

=/\=

At least they didn't have to go through decon, which was a good thing given the amount of time Travis had spent complaining about the mission. Hoshi missed his smile. It was one small bit of beauty that she'd gotten to see every day on this mission.

Malcolm met her at the top of the launch bay stairs. "Anything useful?"

"It's definitely Xindi," she reported, "but I can't tell much more. They abandoned the area a long time ago."

He sighed. "Wonderful."

Travis closed the shuttlepod hatch with more than the necessary force and clomped up the stairs. "Well, that was a few hours we won't get back. I'm going to go clean up. See you on the bridge."

"Actually," said Malcolm, his eyes sliding over toward Hoshi, "you're needed in the cargo bay."

He was already partway down the corridor, but turned to stare at them. "What?"

Hoshi smothered a chuckle.

"Cargo bay, Ensign," said Malcolm crisply, his expression impassive. "Now."

"We take on something while we were gone?"

"Not exactly." He motioned toward the doors. "Shall we? You too, Hoshi."

It wasn't a long walk, so she was able to keep up and thus got to see Travis' face when the bay doors opened. And there, at long last, was the beautiful smile she'd been missing all day.

She returned it with one of her own. "Did you really think we'd forgotten?"

"No, I…" he laughed. "Actually, yes. Everyone's been so serious lately."

"Crew morale is serious."

He turned to look at her. "You knew! That trip was just meant to get me off the ship!"

"Not entirely," said Malcolm, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he also began to smile. "But yes, that was part of it."

Hoshi went up on tiptoe to kiss Travis on the cheek. "Happy birthday."

His smile became wider. "Thank you. Thank you both." Then, offering her his arm, they walked together into the decorated cargo bay and the party inside.

Author's Notes:

This began as a couple of responses to the Drabble Game at The Delphic Expanse. Special thanks go to EntAllat for beta reading and Aquarius for a last-minute catch.