A/N: Thank you to those who are leaving reviews. It is very much appreciated.

CHAPTER 7

Hoshi was in a remarkably good mood the next morning. Lulled the previous night by Warp Core and Torpedo's purring from where they'd curled up nearby on her bed, she had drifted off into a sound sleep. She'd slept for eight hours straight, not once being woken by hissing or spitting or furry bodies bounding across her bunk. She found herself humming as she got ready to leave her cabin. This was more like it, she thought, seeing the two cats sitting next to the door. They were waiting for her to let them out. It was just like when they'd been here before, and she'd enjoyed their visit so much. She'd wake in the morning, feed them, take a shower and dress, and then they'd all head out for the day.

As she put her hand on the button to open her door, she paused. She wondered how T'Pol had gotten along with Batty. It didn't seem quite right that she'd allowed T'Pol to take care of the most cantankerous member of the feline trio. As far as Hoshi knew, T'Pol didn't have any experience with Earth cats, other than the limited interaction she'd had previously with Torpedo and Warp Core, two of the most docile cats Hoshi had ever encountered. Batty, on the other hand, could be a tiny terror.

She was probably worrying about nothing. If there had been a problem, T'Pol would have contacted her.

A meow from near her feet made her look down. Both Torpedo and Warp Core were looking up at her expectantly, as if wondering what the delay was. She smiled. "All right, you guys." She pushed the button and the door opened. "Have a good day!" she called after them as they trotted off down the corridor.

Hoshi was still smiling as she walked into the mess hall. After picking out her breakfast from the serving cabinet, she joined Trip and Malcolm at a table by one of the large windows.

"You look pretty chipper this morning," Trip greeted her.

Her smile grew even bigger. "That's because, for the first time in a week, I had a decent night's sleep."

"I can't believe that little cat is now living in T'Pol's quarters," Trip said.

As far as Hoshi knew, only she, T'Pol, and those crew members who had been on the bridge last night -- Trip hadn't been one of them -- knew about Batty's transfer to new quarters. "How did you know about that?" Hoshi asked him.

"Malcolm told me the captain practically shooed T'Pol off the bridge last night so that she could get that cat from you."

Hoshi had to laugh as she recalled the incident. What Trip had said was true. The captain had seemed very eager for T'Pol to take up her duties as a cat sitter.

"So there was no cat combat in your quarters last night, I take it?" Malcolm asked.

"None," Hoshi told him. "And if T'Pol didn't have any trouble with Batty last night, it should stay that way." She sighed contentedly before taking a bite of toast.

Trip picked up his cup, rotating it slightly so that the coffee in it swirled around. "You expecting there might have been some problems?"

Hoshi, her mouth full of toast, shrugged and lifted her eyebrows. She really didn't know, but she was hoping for the best, if only that it meant Batty wouldn't be coming back to her quarters any time soon.

"What I wouldn't have given to have been in T'Pol's quarters last night," Malcolm said.

Hoshi stared at Malcolm with wide eyes, and Trip, who had taken a sip of his coffee, almost snorted it back out his nose.

Malcolm blushed and said hurriedly in a low tone, "That's not what I meant, and you know it. I just wonder how T'Pol got along with that little black devil. I'll be surprised if she's not covered in scratches after one night with that creature."

"Malcolm!" Hoshi chided him. "Batty is not a 'black devil.' You're just mad because Batty doesn't like you."

"You've still got your security cat, Malcolm," Trip pointed out, referring to Torpedo. "He's probably off makin' his rounds already."

Hoshi put in, "And Warp Core is probably already in engineering. I think they're getting back to their old routines."

When the mess hall door opened a moment later, Hoshi looked up to see T'Pol walk in. She watched as the Vulcan obtained a cup of something from the beverage dispenser, then approached their table. Recalling Malcolm's comment a few minutes earlier, Hoshi was relieved to see that T'Pol bore no visible signs of any catly confrontations.

Addressing Hoshi, T'Pol said, "Ensign, I wish to inform you that Batty's first night in my cabin passed without incident."

A muffled snicker came from Trip.

Ignoring the engineer, Hoshi replied, "That's good to hear, Commander. Not that I expected anything to happen."

A snort came from Malcolm.

Ignoring the tactical officer as well, Hoshi kept a polite expression on her face. "How's Batty doing?"

"She ate the food I put out for her this morning, spent a considerable amount of time grooming, and now is asleep. On my bunk." T'Pol shifted her weight, her brows knitting. "I had arranged a 'bed' -- a box with a pillow in it, much like what Captain Archer has for his dog -- but she seems to prefer sleeping on a human-style bed." After a pause, as if she was trying to decide whether to offer more information, she added, "With me."

That was too much for Trip and Malcolm, who both laughed out loud. At T'Pol's reproachful look, they quickly quieted. Their smiles, however, remained.

"Well, cats are like that, T'Pol," Trip told her. "They do pretty much whatever they please."

"So I am discovering," T'Pol conceded with as much exasperation as a Vulcan would show. "However, in doing research, I have found that cats can, to a certain extent, be trained."

"Really?" Trip asked, shooting an amused glance at Malcolm. He looked back at T'Pol and gestured toward the open chair at the table. "Sit down and tell us about it."

"I must decline," she said. "I am supposed to have breakfast with the captain."

With a dip of her head in parting, she walked away. The three officers watched as she entered the captain's private mess.

"What I wouldn't give to hear the conversation in there this morning," Malcolm said.


The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Hoshi put in four hours on the bridge at the communications console, took a lunch break, and put in four more. There hadn't been too much for her to do as far as transmission traffic, which was good, because she had used most of her time doing research related to their new mission. Enterprise had received orders to attend the inauguration of the new planetary governor of Rigel IV.

Hoshi mused that it was too bad that they hadn't been ordered to return home to pick up some Earth representatives for the event. If they had, she could have returned the cats to Hannah. But the ceremony was scheduled to take place in five days, and there wasn't enough time for Enterprise to travel all the way to Earth, pick up some dignitaries, and make it to Rigel IV for the ceremony. Captain Archer was going to be the senior Earth representative in attendance.

Jon had asked her to brief him on Rigelian protocol; hence, the research. She would wait until the day before they arrived to brief him, so that not only would the information would be fresh in his mind for the inauguration, but he wouldn't have time to prevaricate about practicing. It wouldn't do to have him stumble over the wording of the traditional Rigelian greeting expected from foreign dignitaries. She considered and then discarded the idea of suggesting he wear an audio transceiver so that she could, if necessary, prompt him during the ceremony. For one thing, she didn't think Jon would like it. For another, it would give the appearance that humans didn't think highly enough of Rigelians to learn the traditional greeting. That would not be a good way to start off a diplomatic event.

At the end of her shift, she noted that T'Pol was still absent from the bridge. The Vulcan had been there all morning, but hadn't returned after lunch. Another crew member had been manning the science post since then. Hoshi knew it wasn't unusual for T'Pol to be somewhere else on the ship pursuing other projects. She was a little disappointed, though. She had been hoping to find out in more detail how Batty was settling in with T'Pol.

As Hoshi left the bridge, she decided she'd stop by T'Pol's quarters on the chance the Vulcan was there. She wasn't so friendly with T'Pol as to warrant dropping by for an unannounced social visit, but she felt a certain responsibility as far as the cats were concerned. For her own peace of mind, she needed to make sure Batty was all right. Besides, Malcolm wasn't the only one who was curious about their resident Vulcan and her new pet. She wanted to see for herself how T'Pol was getting along with Batty.

Hoshi rang the chime outside T'Pol's cabin and heard a response, muffled by the closed door, to enter. She opened the door and stepped in, stopping just across the threshold for two reasons. The first was to close the door on the chance that Batty might take a notion to slip out. The second was that there was no light in the cabin except for that of flames from several candles. T'Pol, seated cross-legged on the floor in front of the candles, had been meditating.

"I'm sorry," Hoshi said, squinting in the low light. She didn't see Batty anywhere. "I didn't mean to disturb you."

"That's all right, Ensign," T'Pol said. "If you wouldn't mind...?"

Hoshi caught the gesture T'Pol made toward the panel by the door. "Oh! Sure." Hoshi thumbed the button to bring up the cabin's interior lighting. She turned back and was startled to see that T'Pol had risen to her feet. Vulcans and cats had something in common, she realized. Both could move with a silent grace that was almost eerie.

Even more surprising, however, was the location of Batty. It hadn't been until Hoshi had turned on the lights that she'd realized the cat, her black coat blending with the darkness, was perched on T'Pol's shoulder. Hoshi looked from Batty to T'Pol's face, and then back again. Batty seemed perfectly at ease. T'Pol looked... Hoshi wasn't sure what expression was on TPol's face. Embarrassed that she had been caught indulging a lesser species? No, that wasn't it.

"She climbed on my shoulder while I was meditating," T'Pol said as Hoshi continued to stare. "As her weight is almost negligible, it did not hinder my concentration."

Hoshi couldn't think of anything to say, but she decided T'Pol's expression was defensive, as if she'd felt a need to justify that she'd been caught with a cat on her shoulder. A human, especially one who liked animals, wouldn't have been the least bothered by it, but Vulcans with their suppression of emotion were another matter. On the bright side, Hoshi thought, it seemed like T'Pol and Batty weren't having any problems.

As the silence continued to stretch, T'Pol said, "In fact, her presence may have aided my meditation."

"I...ah...suppose it was a good exercise in blocking out distractions," Hoshi offered.

"I was meditating on how best to train her."

T'Pol tilted forward slightly. Batty jumped off T'Pol's shoulder to land lightly on her feet on the desk.

Hoshi walked to the desk as T'Pol extinguished the candles. After Batty sniffed her hand, Hoshi rubbed the cat behind the ears. She detected the soft chirruping purr that meant the cat was happy. Her back to T'Pol as she petted Batty, she said, "If you didn't have any trouble with her, then I guess she'll be staying with you."

"Yes," T'Pol said succinctly.

Hoshi turned at the sound of fingers snapping. T'Pol snapping her fingers? But even more astounding was that Batty immediately jumped off the desk, ran a few steps, and leaped from the floor into T'Pol's arms. The cat's purring, which had been barely detectable before, became loud enough to fill the room.

Hoshi stared in astonishment. She'd never seen a cat behave like that. And for a Vulcan? It boggled her mind.

"We have already begun training," T'Pol said.

It was only when Hoshi saw Batty lick her lips repeatedly that Hoshi realized T'Pol had given the cat a treat as a reward for that trick.

Not getting any response from the linguist, T'Pol looked at her steadily, as if about to impart something of great importance. "It is best not to overtrain with cats," the Vulcan said. "They tend to have a limited attention span. We worked on this particular exercise this afternoon."

So T'Pol hadn't taken the afternoon off from the bridge for ship-related duties, but to train Batty, Hoshi realized. The absurdity of a Vulcan training a human pet -- and of a species that wasn't particularly easy to train -- was almost overridden by the fact that it seemed to be working. "Ah, you know, cats don't always do what you want them to do," Hoshi cautioned.

"Commander Tucker said much the same thing this morning," T'Pol said. She paused. "The same could be said of humans."

Hoshi couldn't believe she'd just heard T'Pol make what sounded like a joke. Maybe Trip had been right -- the cat was a good influence on T'Pol. Before she could think of a suitable comment of her own, T'Pol walked over to her neatly made bed where she deposited Batty on the bedspread. The cat immediately stuck a back leg up in the air and began grooming.

T'Pol turned to face Hoshi. "I believe that, with persistence, we shall succeed in this endeavor."

"I don't doubt you will," Hoshi murmured.

As Hoshi left, she wondered what else T'Pol planned to train Batty to do.

A/N: Still more to come!