Throwing Away Tradition
"You know, we have doctors who can fix your ear for you." Commander Tucker teased Sub-Commander T'Pol. She raised her eyebrows in answer. Trip smiled, then connected eyes with Captain Archer. He could feel the chastising through the glare, so he lowered his eyes and felt his cheeks get red.
"Let's get back to work." Archer said. They were on an alien planet, trying to fix their warp engines. The aliens, K'Jungons, had hailed them and asked for help. Archer thought it would be a good time for shore leave.
The K'Jungons were happy, friendly humanoids. They were shorter then humans, but not by much, a half a foot for most. Their skin had a reddish coloring, and everyone had blond hair. The women kept their hair long, and down, flowing across their shoulders and backs. The female children were to keep their hair up until their 12th birthday, when they would be presented to the society as a woman.
"Cap'n, I think I've got it." Trip said, making his last finishing touches. "Their engines were connected together, making all the ships immobile when one went bad. I took them off the network."
"Thank you." J'Onlan, the K'Jungons leader, said. "Now all the ships should be able to go, even when one is not working?"
"Yep." Trip smiled. He liked helping these people. They were nice, and those two women standing to the left of him were very beautiful. They'd been there all day, watching and giggling to each other. He'd winked at them earlier, and they giggled about it for over an hour. Too bad they looked to be about sixteen.
After checking to make sure everything was working fine, and getting the broken warp core back online, the Enterprise crew prepared for a dinner in their honor.
"These seem like nice enough people. We outta come back and visit them on our way back home." Trip suggested to Archer as they walked to their quarters. They were getting used to the transporter, and Trip found it fun now.
Archer smiled. "It's already planned." They parted ways at the Captain's quarters. When he stepped into his room Porthos parked. "I missed you too." Archer said as Porthos jumped up on him. "How'd you like to come and meet some new people tonight? I don't think they'd mind."
"Nonia asked me to sit next to her at the dinner." Ensign Mayweather told Lieutenant Reed as they walked to their quarters.
"Travis, she's not even twelve!" Reed exclaimed.
"I know that! I didn't say I agreed to it."
"You'd be safer sitting with the crew." Reed said, shaking his head. Travis was on the planet for an hour, and he already had an admirer. Granted, it was a little girl, but still the fact remained that Reed did not have anyone asking to sit next to him.
"Did you see the way Firin was looking at you T'Pol?" Ensign Sato asked the Vulcan.
Stopping at her quarters, T'Pol answered, "I do not read into looks Ensign."
Hoshi smiled. "I wouldn't be surprised if he sits next to you at the dinner."
T'Pol raised her eyebrow. She had no intention of sitting next to anyone who was not a crewmember. The humans smelled bad enough, but the K'Jungons had a different odor, and it was far less tolerable.
They arrived on K'Jungon early, wanting to explore and talk with the inhabitants more. Trip found his two watchers, both on the arms of men a year or two older. He smiled. Just like the teenagers on earth. He walked around the town with T'Pol. "Let's check out these shops. I didn't get a chance to today while working on their warp engines."
They entered a clothing shop that had a small man at the counter. "Welcome. Today's special, humans get a shirt free." The man smiled.
Trip looked over at T'Pol. "And Vulcans?"
"I have no intention of getting anything." T'Pol said.
"Ahhh, female Vulcans get a dress for free." The man said. He ushered T'Pol to the bright colored dresses. "The material will look wonderful on you."
Trip smiled. He went to look at the men's shirts while T'Pol was shown to the fitting rooms where the man had laid the perfect dress. Through the door Trip knew she was contemplating her next move. Should she change, should she just leave the room? He decided to help her. "You know T'Pol, the Cap'n wants us to mingle with these people." There was a barely audible sigh, or perhaps Trip had imagined it. Moments later T'Pol emerged from the changing room in the red and blue dress. It framed her body so well that Trip had to take a step back to admire her. "You look…you look."
"I do not need your comments Commander." T'Pol said.
"Beautiful." Trip finished his sentence.