Note: This is the first ever bit of fanfic I've tried to write, though it's not the first I *finished*. I hope I uploaded and set the ratings correctly.
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"Ow!"
"Sorry."
"Bloody hell, Trip!"
"I said I was sorry!"
"Why do I let you talk me into things like this? And for that matter, why is it you're always the one on top? You're taller and weigh more than I do!"
"Just hold still, wouldja? I'm almost in."
"You could have at least removed your boots."
"I'm almost ..."
"Would you just hurry this up? You're going crush me."
"Well, ya know, I could get there faster if you could just push..."
With a growl, Lieutenant Malcolm Reed obliged, placing his palms on the soles of the other man's boots and giving him a rough shove. With it, Commander Trip Tucker disappeared into the ceiling vent.
Banging and clanging sounds could be heard for a moment as Trip turned around in the confined space of the orbital station's air vent. Oriented, he poked he head back out of the vent and was rewarded with a glare from Enterprise's Armory Officer, who was rubbing bruised shoulders. Giving Malcolm an apologetic look the engineer turned his head towards the others in the room. "Okay, I'm in. Now where exactly did you two hear that sound?"
Malcolm tilted his head and gave Ensign Hoshi Sato and SubCommander T'pol a similar questioning look. T'pol stood with arms latched behind her back, eyebrows climbing to her hairline, and Hoshi stood with mouth slightly agape. For a long moment the women just stared at the two men.
"Hoshi?" Trip prompted. "T'pol?"
"Um, right." Hoshi murmured. "It's right about here, Commander," she continued a little louder, crouching down next to the wall and placing a palm against the surface, near the floor. She cocked her head slightly, eyes losing focus as she tried to concentrate on the faint sound.
"I concur," added T'pol, moving closer to Hoshi and gazing with Vulcan calm at the spot where the linguist had placed her palm. "The sound is not regular, but seemingly quite random. A high pitched burst every few seconds."
Malcolm narrowed his eyes as he considered the possibilities. A bomb? Electronic surveillance? He couldn't hear anything, but knew that didn't mean much. Vulcan hearing was considerably more acute than human hearing, and Hoshi had exceptional hearing and a trained ear as well. He had no doubt that the two women heard something unusual behind the walls of the alien station. Scanners had proven useless; something in the metallic composition of the walls blocked their scans. That fact set Malcolm's nerves on edge. He was regretting letting the engineer get the better of his judgment. It should be himself up there, not Trip. The station was a way station for dozens of species in this sector. Any number of them could have reason to plant listening devices, for any number of purposes. And a few might have reason to plant something far more lethal. They were far too close to Orion space for Malcolm's comfort. And if the sound was a timer on an explosive device ...
"I don't hear anything yet," Trip said before Malcolm could give voice to his reservations. "But then you two have better hearing than anyone else on Enterprise," he added, unknowingly echoing Malcolm's earlier thoughts. "Just hang on a sec." Trip disappeared into the vent and the room reverberated with clanging sounds as he turned around in the vent again.
He poked his head out once more. "Okay, just stay there a minute," he directed Hoshi. He looked at the where she was pointing, then disappeared into the vent. Then poked his head out again and looked, then disappeared again. And again.
Malcolm was suddenly stuck with the thought of one of those ridiculous American carnival games. What was it called? Whack-a-mole? He struggled to stifle a laugh just as his rubbing connected with a spot on his clavicle bruised by Trip's boots. The strangled groan caught everyone's attention.
"Are you all right Lieutenant?" T'pol enquired.
"I'm fine," Malcolm muttered. Trip looked at him curiously, then addressed the two women again. "Okay, I think the sound's coming from a narrow shaft, just a few meters ahead. I'm going to check it out."
"Commander," Malcolm hurried to try to reclaim the situation before the engineer proceeded. "I really should be the one to check this out. We could be dealing with a ... "
"I'm already up here, Malcolm. It doesn't make sense for us to switch places right now," Trip interrupted. At Malcolm's determined look, Trip sighed. "I'm not going to touch anything. I'm just gonna have a look. And if it's something dangerous, Lieutenant ... " Trip added the rank to make the statement official, "... we'll switch places. I promise."
Malcolm sighed. "Be careful," he warned.
TBC