Chapter 28 - Aubergine

Aubergine.

It was a Sunday, and there was a message from Lili on Malcolm's PADD. But it was only one word – aubergine.

He sent a reply, seeing that the timestamp was from early that morning. It had likely been sent while she was getting ready for work. His response was – Did you send this in error, Darling?

But the same one-word reply came back – aubergine.

Perhaps she's busy. Perhaps it's some sort of secret code, he thought to himself. He was not scheduled to share any meals with the captain that day, yet it promised to be a full day for him all the same. Duties needed to be re-split and re-thought out, what with Curtis and Haynem both out indefinitely. Security needed to conduct its own readiness drills. It had been far too long.

And so he let the odd message go, but it stuck in his craw, and he wondered just how the hell he was supposed to interpret the cryptic message.

=/\=

Travis piloted as Diana monitored. "There's a really big anomaly, bearing one mark two seven five point six," she said, peering into a scope.

He steered around it as they noticed a shimmering in the distances. "What's that?" asked the captain.

"It's apparently made of refined alloys," Diana said, "but I think the anomaly is distorting our readings."

Hoshi was listening and said, "I've got static, but it seems like there's some sort of a message out there. It's audio only."

"Let's hear it," said Archer.

The sound was odd and contained clicking, sometimes it seemed almost like Morse code. At other times, it seemed very nearly like an animal whining in pain. At still other times, it was a little like speech.

"It repeats after a while," Hoshi said. "I'm guessing it's a distress call."

"Can you translate it at all?" asked Captain Archer.

She shook her head. "I can't pick up the syntax."

"The ship, or whatever it is," Malcolm said, "it's not moving much, so far as I can tell."

"So it possibly is a distress call," Jonathan concluded. "Can you get any biosign readings?" he asked Diana.

"I'm getting the same distortions," she replied. "Near as I can figure, the biosigns are Ikaaran, but I can't be certain, sir."

"Can you cross-reference the hull alloy readings to the Ikaaran database, or any readings we got from their mining site?" Jonathan inquired.

"Too much distortion," Diana replied.

"Can we do any better with the visual?" asked the captain.

Hoshi flipped switches. "It's not working. This anomaly seems worse than others we've encountered before."

"I wonder if a shuttlepod would be able to get better readings." Jonathan mused. "Maybe we could get closer."

The shimmering changed, and the ship fired something away from them. It detonated, and the staticky message became clearer for a moment. "… Trapped. Need assistance. Repeat." It was a woman's voice.

"Get me Tucker," Captain Archer said to Hoshi.

"Go ahead."

"Can we line Shuttlepod One with an extra layer of Trellium D and head into the heart of that anomaly?"

"Maybe," he said, "Torres and I'll work on the extra Trellium. Give us an hour. Tucker out."

"If they're stuck," Diana pointed out, "There's a real possibility that Shuttlepod One could become stuck, too."

"Right," Captain Archer said, "But these people are our allies now. At the very least – at the absolute, barest minimum – we should be seeing if we can help them."

=/\=

It was a tiny bit quiet, so Malcolm decided to look up the term. It was a synonym for an immature eggplant – he knew that much. Or it could refer to a reddish-purple color. He despised eggplant, hoping she wasn't making it for supper.

He tapped out a response – Is it aubergines for supper?

But again there was only a one-word response, reflecting back that same cryptic noun – aubergine.

He was beginning to get a bit annoyed.

=/\=

Tripp and José worked on lining the shuttlepod. "Sir," José said, "what happens if the pod gets stuck, too?"

"Well, we don't exactly have infinite pods," Tucker said, "But we should do something. I get the feeling the transporter would be a really bad idea unless we were really close."

"Right," Torres responded. He thought for a moment. "Sir, I'd like to volunteer for this."

"What?"

"Volunteer. Maybe that other ship can be fixed."

"Torres, you're not only talkin' to me about the pod being stuck. This could turn out to be a one-way deal."

"I know," said José, "and that's why I'm volunteering. You've got someone, Jenny and Josh both do, and Mike and Judy are together. I mean, I've got no one. If I go down in flames, nobody becomes a widow. Nobody loses a father."

Tucker looked at him and sighed. "I guess you're right. You're a good man, Torres."

=/\=

When the pod was ready, Jeris communicated with the captain. "I'll go with you," he said, "it'll smooth the way."

"Right," said Captain Archer. "And I'll pilot."

"You, sir? But that's my job," said Travis.

"No. I'm one of the odd men out."

"But you're the captain!"

"And Chris is down with a stomach bug. I can definitely fly the shuttle. Tripp will be in charge."

"Sir, really!" Malcolm protested.

"No, I've gotta do this. I'll take someone from Security or the MACOs, in case any weapons have to be fired. I'm guessing that's what happened when we saw that flash."

"Perhaps Private Hamboyan, if Jay can spare him," Malcolm suggested. "I believe he can work with larger weapons systems."

Jonathan nodded and departed for the shuttle bay.

Malcolm sent out a fast note – a Security drill would have to wait. He then composed the tiniest of messages – Thinking of you, Sweetheart, and sent it. Again, he got the cryptic, one word reply – aubergine. He swallowed and went back to full alertness.

=/\=

On the Ikaaran ship – for that's what it was – women ran purposefully in all directions, about twenty in all. One finally stopped. She was a bit older, dark hair nearly grey. "I will take our small craft into the heart of the anomaly. If I can ignite plasma, you may be freed."

"But what if you fail?" asked her First Officer. "And even if you do succeed, I fear you'll be trapped or killed, Captain."

"That is highly likely. But I have chaperoned you long enough. And so, when I depart, you will know, Ebrona, that you are captain."

"I don't want to be the captain under such circumstances. This is suicidal."

"No," replied the Ikaaran captain, "it is your only hope." She left.

Ebrona turned to the Bridge crew. "You heard Captain Parrle."

"Ebrona!" called out the Communications Officer. "I can hear a response to our distress call."

"Put it through."

The response was garbled and staticky. "… we are … with … pod … stand by."

"Who are those people?" asked the Science Officer.

"I don't know, Preece Ti," said Ebrona."We can only hope they are friendly. We are in no position to bargain."

=/\=

On the Enterprise, Hoshi looked back at Tripp. "I can't be certain that our message got through."

There was another flash, and it was larger than the first one had been. "Get that pod on the line!" Tripp commanded.

"Captain Archer!" Hoshi exclaimed.

"Here ..," there was static, "We see it. It's a shuttle, we think."

There was another, considerably brighter, flash. The Ikaaran ship moved a bit, but it was wobbly.

"Captain!" Hoshi repeated.

"We see it," was the staticky response.

"Captain!" she yelled again, but the response was yet more static. She looked up at Tripp. "I think I've lost them, sir."

=/\=

On Shuttlepod One, Jonathan piloted as José and Eddie sat in the back. Jeris sat up front and pointed. "There," said the Ikaaran, "that is their docking port."

The shuttle was brought in for a tentative, shaky landing. They opened the hatch. The Ikaaran ship wasn't too much larger than Shuttlepod One. "Where can we–?" Jeris asked. The remainder of his question came out as garbled clicking, and Eddie, Jonathan and José all looked at each other.

José whacked the handheld universal translator a few times. "It's dead, sir." The three humans left the shuttlepod, unable to understand anyone but each other.

The women on board clicked and gestured at them wildly. Their gesticulations were confusing and wholly unfamiliar. The men followed Jeris to the small vessel's Bridge.

An Ikaaran woman with dark hair was clicking, her tongue popping nearly constantly as she gestured and the others obeyed what were apparently her commands.

Jeris took José's elbow and brought him to a station where a short woman was working. There were symbols on the console – wavy lines, dots and dashes. "I guess this is Engineering," he said.

Then Jeris led Eddie over to another station. "Ay-dee," said Jeris, pointing.

"I'm guessing this is Tactical," said the MACO.

Jonathan strode over to where the dark-haired woman was still, evidently, giving orders. He thumped his own chest. "I have a ship. You have to evacuate."

The woman looked at him in some confusion, and then clicked at Jeris. Jeris nodded at her slightly. He then tapped José on the shoulder and beckoned him to follow. Six of the women also followed, out of a total of perhaps eighteen on board.

Jeris led José back to the shuttlepod. With both hands, he made a wedge shape and moved it up in a diagonal gesture.

"You want me to fly out of here?" José asked.

Jeris made another gesture, bringing his elbows back in so that the wedge returned.

"And I'm to come back when my passengers have been discharged?"

There was no way to tell whether any of that was understood or correct. José beckoned to the women to get in. He took off.

=/\=

"What's happening out there?" Tripp asked from the Bridge.

"Looks like the shuttle is able to depart," Malcolm said, relieved.

They then saw a flash as the Ikaaran ship appeared to lose its bearings a little.

"We gotta hurry this up," Tripp said, "Malcolm, take command. Travis, get us as close as possible."

"Where are you going?" Malcolm asked, getting up.

"To run the transporter."

=/\=

José piloted as well as he could, but the anomaly field was tricky. "Hang on, girls," he said as the Ikaaran women stared at him, wide-eyed.

=/\=

On the Ikaaran ship, Jonathan looked over Eddie's shoulder. "Do you think we can launch a torpedo? We did that once; there was a Klingon ship in similar straits."

"I can't tell, sir. I think they did that, and when they did, the translation got better for a few seconds, like the anomaly straightened itself out briefly."

"Try it," Jonathan said, "maybe we can talk for a few seconds."

=/\=

Hoshi listened in for the static. Finally, there was some clearing. "Shuttlepod One! Come in!"

"Getting there," José said, amidst the static.

"Crewman," Malcolm said, "we're going to beam out your passengers. Stand by."

Tripp worked the controls as quickly as he could. The six women all stared at him once he was done. "Is that all of you?" he asked. The response was some clicking. "I'll take that as a yes."

On the Bridge, Malcolm said, "Mister Torres, we have them all."

"I'll be back with more. Torres out."

=/\=

There was a flash from inside the big anomaly. "…and maybe they can understand us," Jonathan said to Eddie.

"Only a little, and it won't last," replied Ebrona.

There was a communications chime. Jonathan opened his communicator. "Right, Come back for a second set of passengers."

The line went staticky as the background chatter around them instantly converted from a near-comprehensible hum to more clicking and popping.

=/\=

"Second round, ladies," José announced as he reentered the Ikaaran vessel's Bridge. "Eddie, you take this flight. I wanna see if I can boost their power, if it'll help at all."

"Right," said Eddie, "c'mon," he beckoned to the Ikaaran Tactical Officer. Jonathan took her place.

Five other women followed them and departed. The Ikaaran captain made more clicking and popping noises and one word, or maybe it was two – "Preece Ti."

=/\=

On the Enterprise, Michael Rostov shepherded the Ikaaran women to Sick Bay quarantine. The translator still wasn't working but they did figure out that he wanted them to follow him.

"Let's stay as close as possible," Malcolm said to Travis. "Are we within transport range yet?"

"Here, I think I can get us in a little closer," replied the pilot.

"Good – but do keep us safe, of course," for a split second, he thought of Lili, below decks. Anything to keep her safe.

"Aye, sir."

=/\=

Eddie's passengers were beamed off as quickly as possible. He turned the shuttle around and headed for the Ikaaran ship as fast as the pod could go.

=/\=

Captain Archer fired the last of the Ikaaran torpedoes. "This is gonna be the last trip," he said, "you've gotta abandon ship. This won't be salvaged."

José confirmed. "I can't boost power. I can't buy us any time."

The Ikaaran captain nodded, and then all understanding was lost.

The Ikaaran ship began to rock and creak, a sure sign of failing structural integrity.

=/\=

"What's that on the screen?" Malcolm asked, alarmed.

"I think that ship is breaking apart!" Hoshi exclaimed.

"Get us there," Malcolm said to Travis. "As close as possible. Do not delay."

=/\=

The shuttle docked as quickly as possible. Eddie opened the hatch and yelled, not even bothering to get out as there was no time. "Get in here!"

Jonathan, José and Jeris pushed the remaining women ahead of them as they ran to the shuttle. The Ikaaran captain looked back just once.

The shuttle broke away as the Ikaaran ship began to implode onto itself. The Enterprise swooped in and Malcolm deployed the grappler himself, pulling the pod to safety. The entire ship, and everyone on the pod, breathed a sigh of relief, no translation necessary.

=/\=

In perhaps an hour, translations still weren't working, but at least they were clear of any spores and parasites. Phlox let everyone out of quarantine quickly, as it was standing room only.

=/\=

Jeris followed Jonathan out. He called the captain's name, but then the remainder of his speech was clicking and popping, as was the speech of all seventeen of the Ikaaran women.

"Preece Ti! Bithara! Trenia!" the Ikaaran captain called out. Three women turned to face her. Phlox handed a universal translator to Captain Archer, who held it nearby. A few more clicks, and then the Ikaaran captain was saying, "… and take an inventory, see if we have anything left, anything at all, so that we can pay these kind people."

"You don't have to pay us," Jonathan said to her.

"I take it this is what that device does," she indicated the universal translator. "We are grateful. And we pay our debts."

"No doubt," said Jonathan, "but let's not talk about that sort of thing yet. I'm Jonathan Archer."

"And I am Ebrona. How did you come to have an Ikaaran on board?"

"We have two, actually," replied Captain Archer. "They were imprisoned by the Imvari, as were a couple of my own people."

"You know that you are supposed to return to Ikaaria," Ebrona said to Jeris.

"And to what end?" he replied. "They will only send us out again. And it will be worse than before, for we have lost a ship. As, apparently, have you."

She peered at him. "You know the laws. We are to return for a new assignment if we fail."

Jonathan looked from one Ikaaran to another. José said, "I'm just glad we're all okay. It was a little touch and go there."

"Are you the captain of this vessel?" Ebrona asked José.

"No, ma'am," he said, pointing at Jonathan, "he is."

"Our laws," Ebrona said, "they exist to keep us fed, and with enough resources. People like me farm. People like him," she nodded at Jeris, "do mining. Our genders are kept separate so that we are not distracted. Our ship even had an older captain in order to keep us more focused."

"So, you aren't the captain?" Jonathan inquired.

"I am now. Captain Parrle went into the heart of the anomaly, in an effort to save us, and preserve our ship. Her sacrifice – I would like to believe it was not in vain."

"It wasn't," Jonathan assured her, "for you're all here, aren't you?"

"We are seventeen. With Captain Parrle, we were eighteen in number," Ebrona said, "And now we owe you our lives, and we have nothing to barter with, save our labors. But we are supposed to be working for Ikaaria. To be in this position, without a ship, stranded, and with an obligation such as this, it is not good."

"Captain?" Eddie Hamboyan asked, "It's getting to be dinnertime, sir."

"Hang on a second, Private. Let's do this," Jonathan said to Ebrona, "we'll set you up in our Observation Lounge for now. We'll give you dinner and a place to sleep. And we'll head back over to Paradise – it's one of the planets we've claimed. I'm sure something can be harvested, or weeded or sown or whatever. And your people can work with ours, together, in order to take care of all of that."

"And then what?" asked Ebrona. "We will need to return to Ikaaria. It is our obligation to our government."

"One step at a time, all right?" Captain Archer began walking again, but this time he went in the direction of the Observation Lounge before heading to the Bridge.

=/\=

They were set up in the Observation Lounge, as promised. Lili and Brian were pressed into service to bring in food. Ethan and Sekar brought blankets over.

"You walk slowly, and with hesitation," said one of the women to Ethan.

"Yeah, I've got a permanent brain injury."

She touched his head, trying to heal it, but the glowing became incoherent in her body and there was no change. "I am sorry," she said, "the differences must be too great."

"It's all right," he said, "I can still do things like this."

"And sew; don't forget sewing," Sekar said. "Mister Shapiro does a fine job with making uniforms."

"Thanks, but you do the detail work," Ethan countered.

"We're a good team," Sekar said.

"Thanks for trying," Ethan said to the woman who'd touched him.

"I am Bithara," she said, "my function on the ship is Tactical but my farming function is pollination."

"That's good to know," Ethan said, "we could use that. Uh, the pollination part. Or you could fill in for me at Tactical, I suppose. I can't do that anymore."

In another corner, two women were sampling food that Lili had brought over. "It tastes a little like elekai," one of them said, "but what is it, really?"

"Roasted procul with honey mustard," Lili replied. "Don't forget to take green beans and quinoa."

"You will run out of food if we don't start farming soon," one of them said.

"So far, so good," Lili replied. There was a ding, a message on her PADD. It was Malcolm, telling her he'd meet her at her quarters at twenty-two hundred hours. She tapped out and sent a one-word reply – aubergine.

=/\=

It was twenty-two hundred hours, and Lili was in her quarters and out of uniform. She was wearing the same mint green scoop-neck top as she'd worn the previous week, and a pair of cutoff shorts, her hair down and soft. She had debated with herself on whether to put on makeup, but it felt weird and she wondered – hoped – that it would just be wiped off anyway.

There was a door chime, right on schedule. "Dependable as always," she said softly to herself, smiling. She opened the door.

Malcolm came in. "Aubergine," she said to him.

"Now, Lili, I, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Aubergine," she insisted.

"But –"

"Aubergine."

"Lili –"

"Aubergine."

His reaction was not what she was expecting. He was fuming. "Now, see here! I don't know what the devil you're talking 'bout and I don't enjoy games such as this! Whatever the hell aubergine is, will you just tell me already!"

She shrank back, surprised at his reaction. He continued. "I have had it up to here!" He made a throat-slashing gesture. "I am tired of being away from you! I have missed you terribly! And I know what, what you have been doing! For my, my pain to be diminished and dismissed like this, it's quite inconsiderate of you! He may get whatever, whatever this aubergine is, but I do not! And I'll thank you not to confuse us ever again! Now you will tell me just what the devil it is! Now!"

She was shaking and just a tiny bit fearful. She stuck her fingers into the side of her shorts and pulled up a reddish-purplish bit of cloth – the edge of the waistband for her panties. "Here," she said, "this is what I was talking about. This is the damned aubergine."

She sat down on her bed, arms folded.

Nonplussed, Malcolm stared for a second. Finally, he said, "Oh, God. I am so incredibly stupid. Here I was thinking it was some, some secret code, or you were poking fun at me, when all you wanted to do was tell me the color of your knickers. God, I am a stupid fool."

She still sat there with her arms folded.

"But I, I want you to know, it does pain me a great deal to not be with you. I know what you are doing with him. And it hurts me. I don't enjoy admitting such things. But it does." He thumped his chest once.

She looked at him. "It hurts me, too."

"What?"

"It does," she said, "It hurts me to be apart. From you. From Jay. Both hurt."

"I don't see how it can. You're occupied on all days but one."

"That doesn't mean that I don't feel anything. When I'm with you, I miss him. And when I'm with him, I miss you. And yesterday – Saturday – I got to miss both of you." She was close to crying. "And all I, I wanted to do, was make it fun and, and a little mysterious. A little silly, yeah. Too cryptic, I guess. But I meant you no harm."

There were tears rolling down both cheeks. He came closer. "Oh, God. What have I done? You, you really think that? All of it?" She nodded. "When I, I guess the word is discharged – when I discharged you on Wednesday morning, it felt awful. And Thursday and Friday and Saturday, they were all variations on that theme. I missed you so. And here I am, back with you, and I'm shouting at you."

He tentatively put his hand out. "I should like to start again, and wipe the slate clean."

"Okay," she said, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue.

"I'd like to introduce myself," he said, sticking his right hand out. "My name is Malcolm Reed. And I think you are the most glorious creature. And all I want to do is be close by."

"Just that?"

"Of course not," he said, "but it's a start. I want to touch you, I want to, to do everything. Surely you know what that is. I have been looking forward to this day. And it almost went so horribly pear-shaped. And I don't even mean this. I mean the captain going out there, to assist the Ikaarans. There was no way to know whether he would survive that. It was frightening. And then I, well, your cleverness went straight over my foolish head. I am not thinking with my brain. I am thinking with my hormones, it seems."

"Maybe that's because things haven't been used in a while? I know that's why I'm behaving the way I am these days."

"You? But I thought he and you would have, by now …?"

She shook her head. "It's been so long; I don't even know how to be seductive anymore."

He came up close to her and kissed her. "You are very seductive," he whispered. "I just couldn't recognize it, being the fool I am sometimes."

She drew him closer to her, initiating the kiss this time. She held him close, hip to hip. He held her waist, moving his hands up a little. "May I tell you something?" he asked. She nodded. "I, it feels so awkward to say it. But I want you to know, as I don't wish for you to be, to be disappointed."

She looked at him in puzzlement. "The, the first time. Since it has been such a long time, I fear it might be a bit too sudden, too rapid. It's, it's my desire. It's a bit overwhelming."

"Ah," she said, taking him by the hand and leading him to the bed. She sat down and he sat down with her. She quickly unzipped his uniform jumpsuit and, before he could catch his breath and say anything, his briefs were down and it was her hands and her mouth.

Caught off guard, he couldn't even try to put off his climax. He just made a bit of an incoherent sound. He put his hands on her shoulders and brought her up to his level. Panting, he kissed her. "I've, I've never done that before," he said as soon as he'd caught his breath.

"What?" she chuckled a little.

"That, uh, that, yes. But not, I never, I never kissed the woman right afterwards. And, and it was, it was never someone, it was never a woman like you. You're, you're a nice girl. Nice girls aren't supposed to, to do things like that."

"We do," she said.

"And, and in return, I shall …."

"Malcolm," she said to him, "I didn't do that just in anticipation of you reciprocating. I mean, I won't deny it. I like having that done to me. And I do want you to. But I didn't, you know, just to have you do it back. I'm not keeping an accounts book. Not at all."

He looked at her in wonderment. "I'd like to go slower. This is; this is me attempting to be seductive."

She smiled at him. "All right."

He carefully eased off her top, under which there was a white bra. "I suppose I was expecting aubergine."

She laughed. "I don't have a matching one, sorry."

"It's quite all right." He bade her to stand up and he took off her shorts. "Now there's aubergine," he said, smiling.

"Right you are." She got his remaining clothes off and he took off hers as well.

He paid particular attention to her breasts. "You have most definitely made me a breast man."

"Good," she said, "I'm very sensitive there."

He kissed her neck, moving downwards, listening for her breath to catch and change. When he felt she was fully ready, he moved back. They kissed. "This is all I want," he whispered as they merged.

They moved together well, trading kisses as she moaned and their breathing got faster. They rolled together, one on top and then the other. Her head tipped back and she got louder with her climax. This excited him even more, and he climaxed again.

Teeth chattering, they remained together, his arms close around her back, holding her close to him. She giggled a little with the overstimulus. "Whew," she finally said.

"I have no intention of sleeping tonight," he whispered in her ear and then kissed it.

"Not a chance," she breathed back.

=/\=

Jay Hayes's Personal log, October twenty-fifth, 2039

I heard her a little. I'm sure she didn't quite mean for that to happen, but I know her voice. It doesn't make me feel as badly as I would have expected. I knew that eventually this would happen.

And I am trying not to be competitive. I know she doesn't want that. But I can't help but to wonder just a little bit if I can't get her to yell louder when I see her on Wednesday the twenty-eighth.

=/\=

Jonathan Archer's Personal log, October twenty-fifth, 2039

We've got passengers. There are seventeen new women. Holy cow.

They aren't human but, right now, I am not caring about that too much. Their captain – or, rather, she was their First Officer and became their captain – she is a good-looking woman, if you can get past the notched nose. And I think maybe I can.

It's a pity she wants to go back to Ikaaria. I guess I'll just have to work to convince her otherwise.

=/\=

Ethan Shapiro's Personal log, October twenty-fifth, 2039

For the first time in a while, I think I like someone who isn't Karin.

=/\=

Jeris's Personal log, October twenty-fifth, 2039

I hope that Ebrona does not insist on Jobiram and me returning to Ikaaria. I don't want to be back there. I do not wish to mine. I never did. And I don't want to be away from women anymore.

I am certain this is why we have our system. It is so easy to become distracted. But I am distracted; there is little sense in denying that now.

Their ratio is more smoothed out but it is not perfect. There are still those without –assuming that all of the new women are interested; they might not be.