Title: Explaining

Author: HopefulNebula (HopefulNebula@hotmail.com)

Summary: Trip gets caught. This was inspired by a line in the prologue to "Differential" by Zane Grey, but you don't have to have read that to get it.

Rating: PG for (very) mild language.

Disclaimer: I don't own, but that you knew / Just having fun, so please don't sue.

Visit www.terranbbs.com! I'm LyraSilvertongue there. Let me know if you join.

Note: Big honking thanks to Zane Grey for the inspiration for this story!

~~~~~

The engineer crept quietly through the corridors of the ship, stopping at each juncture to ensure that T'Pol was nowhere near. It was hard to not step on one of the sections of floor that connected to a conduit; these would conduct the sound of his footsteps, and it was imperative that his mission be carried out in silence. Not even this was impossible for somebody who knew as much about Enterprise as Trip Tucker.

He didn't know why he was being so paranoid about this. T'Pol would be in preliminary crew evaluations right now, and she wouldn't be out for at least another hour. He had plenty of time, and his cargo was safely camoflaged in a bag from Engineering.

Hell, he decided, I'll just sneak around when I get near her quarters. Until then, I'll act normal.That's what'd attract less attention. So Tucker strode confidently toward his goal until he reached the last junction. This is where stealth was crucial; if he was seen entering or leaving T'Pol's quarters, he was toast.

Luckily, the area was devoid of onlookers. He was safe.

There were perks to being one of the people who helped design the circuitry for many of Enterprise's systems; one of these bonuses was knowing exactly how to bypass the security system for crew quarters. It was a relatively simple matter; all he had to do was disconnect the right wire, go in, do his job, and then leave. How hard could it be? he wondered.

His answer came soon enough. First, the access panel stuck and he had to spend three minutes carefully using a screwdriver as a lever to open it. Then, in pulling the wire he needed to pull, another one came loose and he had been forced to don electrical gloves in order to properly fix it. He was almost ready when he was jolted out of his focus by the voice of his best friend.

"Trip, what are you doing here?" Jonathan Archer asked.

The engineer quickly assessed his options and chose to keep conversation to a minimum. "Repairs," he replied, returning to his work.

The captain had known Tucker for nearly nine years, and he found his friend's current behavior to be quite odd for the situation. Normally, the engineer would have been much more vocal. Something was up here, and Archer intended to find out exactly what it was. "Now why don't you tell me what you're really doing, Trip?"

Shit, Tucker thought. He's got me. Serves me right, lying to my best friend. "It's… a personal matter, Captain."

"A personal matter that involves breaking into Sub-Commander T'Pol's quarters?" Archer inquired.

The hue of Tucker's already-red face deepened considerably. Got me again, he decided. Better tell him… "You promise not to tell anybody?"

"That depends…"

"OK. I'll tell, and then you can decide. You know how the Sub-Commander and I have been eating together a lot lately?"

"Yes, but what does that have to—"Archer was quite rudely interrupted by a desperate Tucker.

"Well, we've also been playing some, uh, practical jokes on each other. Nothin' major, I assure you. It's my turn now. I've gotta pay her back for rigging the doors to my office to say 'Live long and prosper' every time somebody opened them."

The captain chuckled, then asked the question that Tucker had been most reluctant to answer. "So what exactly are you doing now?"

The engineer carefully extracted several candles from the bag he had been carrying. "Trick candles. They won't go out easily. I'm gonna replace T'Pol's meditation candles with these—don't worry, just for tonight."

"All right," Archer decided. "I won't tell. Just be sure nothing gets too out of hand with these pranks."

"No prob. Thanks, Captain," Tucker intoned in his Southern drawl.

"And tell me how it goes!" the captain ordered. When nobody answered, he looked back. Tucker was gone, presumably into T'Pol's quarters.

~~~~~

"T'Pol to Commander Tucker," came T'Pol's comm voice from the small speaker in Tucker's quarters.

"Yeah, T'Pol? Anything the matter?" he asked, smirking.

"Could you return my meditation candles?"

"Sure, if you say please."

There was a long pause as T'Pol pondered this. It would be demeaning for her to have to ask for this, but pride was an emotion, as Tucker would have pointed out. She had no real choice. "Please."

"That's better. Well, T'Pol, I'm really pretty busy with that big systems report… can't this wait until morning?" he asked in a tone that clearly stated that he was doing no such thing at the moment.

The tone in T'Pol's next statement was remarkably agitated; this was what truly made Tucker change his mind upon hearing what she said. "You will return them now, Mister Tucker."

"All right, all right… keep yer shirt on. I'll be right down…"

END

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Since you've read this far, I presume you'll be REVIEWING. I welcome everything, but flames will all be cheerfully returned to the sender. Please don't tell me this is too short. This is the exact length I want it to be; I don't see reason to add to it. As Zane said in "Sympathies and Symmetries," "Short, sweet, and complete."