DISCLAIMER: Enterprise is not mine. Amber Scott and the Alkiri are.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Hey, who else here finds the image of Trip trying to teach someone how to dance really funny? I know I sure do, that's why I wrote this chapter. I have never made up an alien race before, so this is my first shot, and to be quite honest I don't think it's all that good! But I had to do something with it. This story is very, very close to done.

RATED: G

THE SECRET LANGUAGE

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

"Who are these…Alkiri?" Amber asked, stumbling over the unfamiliar name.

"An alien race." Lt. Reed answered.

"I know that." Amber said, shifting in the shuttle's uncomfortable seat. "I mean, what are they like?"

"They have unusually large hands, and their eyes seem to look in both directions at once." Lt. Reed had an odd way of speaking, Trip had called it an accent. He said that all people from England, where Malcolm was from, spoke like that. Amber wondered if she had an accent. She was from Tampa.

"Sounds lovely." Hoshi said, making four of the five crewmembers in the shuttle titter. The one who wasn't tittering was T'Pol. Amber had once heard a crewmember describe the Vulcan science officer as a "stick in the mud." Amber guessed that was an expression for someone who wasn't a whole lot of fun. I sure hope I'm not a stick in the mud. She thought.

"We're comin' in for a landing." Trip said. Amber watched his movements carefully as he prepared the shuttle to land. She had never landed a shuttle before, and she wanted to make sure she knew what to do in case she ever had to.

The shuttle set down on the Alkiri homeworld's surface, which looked quite a bit like Tampa in the summertime. The air felt like Tampa, too-hot and muggy.

"Gosh, it's hot out here." Captain Archer said. "Sure hope these people have air conditioning."

"I don't think it's that bad." Amber said.

Captain Archer looked at her as if she'd just grown another head. "You don't?"

"I grew up in Tampa." Amber said. "It was like this all the time."

"And I thought San Francisco was warm weather." Captain Archer said.

"It was too cold for me." Amber said. "When I was at the Academy I had to bring my coat with me everywhere."

"Even in the summer?"

Amber thought for a moment. "No, not in the summer." She said. "But even then I wished it were warm like Tampa. I guess I'm just not a cold weather person."

Captain Archer shrugged. "Different strokes for different folks."

Amber looked at him quizzically. "Huh?"

"It means different people like different things." Captain Archer clarified.

"Oh." Amber said. "'Different strokes for different folks.' I like that."

"A party? Cap'n, are you sure you heard them right?" Trip asked as the away team met later that afternoon.

"The Alkiri are a…gregarious…race." Captain Archer said.

"What's gregarious?" Amber whispered to Trip.

"Outgoing." Trip answered.

"And they're throwing us a party?" Lt. Reed asked. He looked a little uncomfortable.

"Captain, we should check to make sure that this is not a setup." T'Pol said. "We know nothing about this race, or what their true intentions might be."

"Stick in the mud." Amber muttered under her breath. Trip stifled a laugh.

"They're also very musical." Captain Archer said. "And they've asked that we bring some music from our own planet to share with them."

Music? Amber asked. Of course she knew what music was, but she'd never heard it. What did it sound like? Well, she'd find out soon enough.

A few hours later, Amber sat at the Alkiri's party. It sounded an awful lot like the mess hall at lunchtime. The only difference was this music. The music was loud and obnoxious. Amber wished they'd just turn it off.

"Hey, Am." Trip said, sitting down next to her. "So, whaddaya think?"

Amber gave him a withering look. "I think I want to be deaf again."

Trip laughed. "What, you mean the music?" He asked. "This is the Alkiri's music. Not all music's like this."

"The music is only slightly less laughable than the Alkiri." Amber looked to where Captain Archer and Ensign Mayweather were talking to an Alkiri. The Alkiri all looked the same: big

boned, with a purplish tint to their skin and huge, beady eyes. Neither the men nor the women had any hair. The only way you could tell the two apart was that women wore a silver

bracelet on their right wrist. Amber had learned earlier that Alkiri marriages were arranged when girl were between the ages of twelve and fourteen, and the bracelet was to show that

they were promised. The married women wore a gold bracelet on their left wrist and kept the silver bracelet.

"Aw, come on, Amber." Trip said. "I think they're about to put on some of our music." No sooner had Trip said the words than slow music came through the speakers. "Hey, come on,

Amber, let's dance!"

"No…I can't." Amber said.

"I'll teach you." Trip said, dragging her out of her chair.

"Well…OK…" Amber knew her protests weren't going to be worth anything.

"OK, like this." Trip placed her right hand in his and then positioned her left arm around his waist. "Just like in all the old movies. Now just…flow to the beat, I guess."

Amber didn't know what "flow to the beat" meant, so she just followed Trip's lead. Amber had never been to school dances or any occasion where dancing was involved. Nobody had

ever asked her, and she would have been too shy to go anyway. She'd much rather have sat at home and studied.

Suddenly the slow music stopped, and loud, brassy music blasted through the speakers.

"Ah!" Amber cried, covering her ears. Trip didn't mind the music though. In fact, he seemed to like it.

"Hey, come on Amber, I'll teach you how to swing dance!" He said.

"Swing dance?" Amber asked.

"Yeah, come on. Just follow my lead." Trip said.

Trip's lead was harder to follow here, as he kept changing directions and swinging Amber from left to right. Maybe that's why they call it "swing" dancing. She thought. No matter how hard she tried, Amber just couldn't keep up with the movements.

"Well." She panted as soon as the song was over. "Thanks, Trip."

Trip laughed and patted her back. "Anytime, Amber."

August 29th, 2151

Well, the Alkiri sure are…interesting. They're very gregarious (that's a new word I learned. It means outgoing), and they play really weird music. They played some of our music from earth, something Trip called "swing." Trip tried to teach me how to dance. Well, if I learned one thing last night, it's that I'm certainly not a dancer! That "swing" music was way too loud and fast. Maybe I'll try the "classical" music that Hoshi was talking about.

Well, I have to go. 7 AM duty shift tomorrow. Ugh! I hate early morning shifts! Anyway it's late so talk to you later!