Disclaimer: I do not own any of the intellectual property rights for Star Trek or the characters developed within the published Star Trek universe.

Author's Notes: I felt in the need for a more 'classical' tale. After writing the story, I decided it needed another story line for balance but I am still struggling with the muse on that one. I thought perhaps publication would help push things along...

Diplomatic Mission

"Ready?" Archer looked at the engineering station, where Trip was doing a last check, resplendent in his dress uniform.

"All set, Captain!" The engineer replied with a grin.

"And you, Hoshi?" Archer turned to the communications station with a broad smile, not about to suppress his excitement at the mission that awaited them.

"Affirmative, Captain!" Hoshi half-swiveled back with a matching grin. She too was in regulation dress. She got up from her chair, smoothing any wrinkles out of her sleeves and dress.

"Let's go, then!" Archer pushed up from the Captain's chair, nodding as T'Pol quietly changed stations to take his seat. Hoshi and Trip were already making beelines to the turbolift.

Trip paused as his path crossed T'Pol's, giving the slightest nod and wink to his mate. There would be no good-bye kiss on the bridge, first it was against regulations and second they'd only be gone for a few days. Plus they'd already taken care of that the night before. Oh, how they'd taken care of that. He felt the edge of a blush creeping towards the roots of his hair.

T'Pol looked back at him expressionlessly, which made him even more self-aware. That didn't help his blush at all. Not one darn bit. "...uh... see you soon..." he mumbled as he rushed past her, aware of the eloquent eyebrow she must be raising in his back.

Archer was already at the turbo lift. He turned back towards the bridge, "Sorry you can't come with us," he called out to T'Pol as she sat down in the captain's chair.

The Vulcan elegantly cocked her head to the side, "There is nothing to apologize for, Captain," Trip suppressed a grin. He was firmly convinced that T'Pol's literalism when it came to social formulas was her way of poking fun at Humans, "You are not responsible for the fact the atmosphere on A'Aerl'Ord is toxic to Vulcans," T'Pol was going on. Trip frowned a little at that. A'Aerl'Ord was mostly water with a thin edge of land, its atmosphere replete with an isolate toxic to Vulcans, as if the humidity was not tough enough for a desert-adapted species. He couldn't help the vaguely superstitious feeling that saying so out loud was tempting the universe, as if daring it to do something about it. They'd seen enough of Murphy's Law, whatever can go wrong will go wrong... He chased the thought away, T'Pol woud say he was being illogical.

"Glad you'll be safe on Enterprise," Archer replied. He looked over at Reed, "And Lieutenant Reed...,"

"Sir!" the security officer answered, crisp as ever. With.T'Pol unable to go, he should have been the one going, he was number four in the hierarchy and the Eyrlodenes had requested the top three representatives. Except that... only two percent of A'Aerl'Ord's surface wasn't submerged under hundreds of fathoms of sea. The thought of all that water sent shivers down his spine, just staring at the planet made him break into a cold sweat. Thankfully, Archer had explained to the Eyrlodenes there was a Starfleet imperative about the need to 'expose junior officers to all facets of diplomacy' and that Hoshi would be going instead. Hopefully the Captain wasn't going to blow his cover and let everyone know that Reed couldn't go down because of hydrophobia. His stomach churned as his mind repeated the mantra, 'Please dont say it... please don't say it... please don't say it...'

"Sorry you can't attend either," Archer said simply. Reed let out the breath he'd been holding, looking at Archer with a mix of relief and gratitude. He would have planted a big wet kiss on the man's cheek. T'Pol raised an eyebrow at him as if she'd sensed his emotional turmoil. Reed glared right back at her, hoping his features were as unreadable as hers, and she backed down.

"I'll make sure you have a seat at the next diplomatic event," Archer was going on.

"Thank you, sir," Reed almost snapped his heels in reply. Truth be told, he couldn't care less about the diplomatic tralala. A'Aerl'Ord was being inducted to the United Federation of Planets - lots of long and tedious talks, and nothing actionable. Actually he was lucky to have escaped. All that on account of his deathly fear of water. To every cloud, its lining as they said...

But the Captain's focus was back on T'Pol, "You may want to pipe in the festivities, Commander. That's a rare opportunity to see what we put in place." Usually, they'd happen on an unknown planet, start the conversation about the federation of planets, and years later perhaps there might be a treaty, a feast, all kind of celebratory events while Enterprise was halfway across space on yet another mission. As luck would have it, by some fortunate coincidence, the Eyrlodenes finally acceded to the Federation right Enterprise was in the sector, and they'd been delegated as the official representatives.

The Vulcan inclined her head briefly, "I will be happy to participate thusly in the induction ceremonies, Captain." Trip hid a brief smile. 'Thusly'... he wondered where she'd seen that. At least she didn't just come out and flat out tell Archer that watching the festivities was a huge waste of her time. She had made no secret of her relief that she didn't have to attend what promised to be three days of stultifyingly boring speeches and... more speeches. Fine with him. He actually looked forward to stepping out of the ship on real land, stretching his legs, the luxurious accommodation, the new alien food... it would be a welcome change. All of it. Truth be told, he was getting a bit tired of the same day-in day-out on Enterprise.

Archer took a final look around the bridge, "You have the con, T'Pol." He stepped into the lift, Trip and Hoshi on his heels. A last, "I count on you all to keep Enterprise safe!" floated on the bridge. The doors closed.

T'Pol lithely got out of the Captain's chair and went back to her science station. "Ensign Mayweather?" she asked.

"Yes, sir!"

"Please alert me to any departure from the expected," she briefly replied as she settled back down into her research. If she had been Human, she would have breathed a sigh of relief, like Reed, who was very much Human.

Travis relaxed in his seat, looking at the twirling blue green orb on the main screen. A few days back, the Captain had called him and Hoshi in, asked them to sit down, explained about the induction of A'Er'Orl into the Federation, about the prestige of being requested to attend the festivities, about how he only had one seat available or he'd bring both of them. And the whole time Travis watching him, wondering why he was even there. Hello? One of them was a communications officer. Communications. Aliens. Translations. Inventor of the UT, or something like that. Why was Archer even considering choosing him? He appreciated the Captain preparing him for his own command one day, but he was a son of space, born in space. Anything too physically constrained, like a planet, made him feel vaguely ill-at-ease.

Fortunately, he didn't have to plead his case, Archer had explained all the reasons why he was selecting Hoshi and Travis had stopped listening. He was off the hook, that's all that mattered.

xxx