None of the Enterprise characters are mine, though how I wish Trip was.

I was tired when I finished this up. It might be a little choppy…

*********

"Lieutenant, I really don't think this is a prudent plan of action." T'Pol stood in front of the armory officer, stony face showing hints of anger.

"The captain said he didn't want us blasting up the Kaelynians buildings, and from what the sensors read, there's only one guard."

The Vulcan frowned, before drawing her hood over her eyes and moving toward the prison complex. She and a small security team were settled one hundred feet and away and now she was starting the 'plan' to 'rescue' Commander Tucker from his imprisonment. She had no idea why she had been chosen for this foolish part, but the captain had ordered her on this foolish mission.

"Pardon me," she murmured, seeing the guard she was going to 'neutralize'. "But are you the only guard on duty?"

The Kaelynian male sat up in his seat and stared wide-eyed at T'Pol. "Yes ma'am!"

The Vulcan put on the best smile she could muster and slid her hand down the guard's cheek. "Can you possibly leave your post to assist a lonely woman?"

"Yes ma—" His sentence wasn't even complete when he slumped over in his seat, T'Pol's hand lingering at his neck. She exited the compound, nodding to her companions that she had done her part. They rushed past her, phase pistols and flashlights in hand. That confused her – the only guard was unconscious and these humans were still expecting attack.

"This way!" Reed's voice echoed through the building as he navigated the passageways to Tucker's holding cell.

The security team ahead of her stopped short. Lieutenant Reed began tapping furiously on his scanner and flashing light into all of the nearby cells. All were empty.

"Bloody hell! Where did that blasted engineer get off to?"

T'Pol raised one eyebrow, an almost pleased expression coming over her face. "It would appear, Lieutenant, that Mr. Tucker has…flown the coop."

"Bloody…'ell."

*********

Commander Tucker was on the verge of collapse. His hostage, as she called herself, had kept him moving through the desert for what seemed like hours. He was thirsty, sweaty, and was in desperate need of sleep. He stopped in his tracks and wiped a hand across his forehead as he took a look around. There had to be a tree…or something he could rest under. "Hey, Kalizza?"

"Yes?" The Kaelynian stopped and turned around to look at her follower.

"Think we can stop for a sec? I'm worn out."

Kalizza nodded, taking a seat on the hot sands. Trip, however, was a little pickier, choosing to hunt out a tree stump to sit on. He'd probably burn up sitting on that ground. His hostess shuffled through a pack, producing a small jug of water. The human wondered briefly when she had gotten that pack; he didn't remember seeing it before.

And he also began wondering when the woman started looking so damn attractive. Okay, so she was very much like all the other Kaelynian women, but she seemed…different. There was something about that dark skin and blonde hair that interested him. Hell, even the ridges and stripes were starting to look good. He wondered how far those stripes went down and if there really were ridges on her…

"Would you like some water, Trip?" His thoughts were interrupted by the innocent question.

"Huh? Wha? Oh, yeah, thank ya," He quickly took the water jug and took a long sip. Damn, thinking about Kalizza like that was like thinking of T'Pol that way! Those three suns must be turning his brain into mush.

"Yesterday, I heard you say something about a woman named…T…T…" His companion stuttered over the name, but Trip knew exactly who she was talking about.

"T'Pol?" He chuckled. "Speak of the devil…"

The Kaelynian blinked. "I'll tell you about our underworld later. But first, can you tell me if T'Pol's a woman?"

"Yeah, she is. And you really don't have to tell me about your underworld. That was just another expression."

Damn, it was cute the way Kalizza was blushing… "Oh. Well, are you and T'Pol together?"

Trip's eye went wide, and he almost dropped the water jug. "Me and T'Pol? Hell no! Damn, she has a stick shoved even farther…" He remembered the previous day's confusion about that expression and quickly changed his wording. "She's even more disagreeable than Malcolm. You couldn't pay me to date that Vulcan ice queen."

"She's a queen?"

"Uh, no. She's not. That was supposed to be an insult."

"Oh. Well aren't queens powerful…?"

The poor girl obviously wasn't getting the point. "Nevermind. Well, I think I'm ready to go now…"

She nodded, standing up and starting to walk away again. Trip sat there staring for a moment before shaking his head and following after her. He thought his cell was bad enough, but being attracted to the only company he had was going to make for a very long day or two.

But in the back of his head, he wondered just why she was asking those questions about T'Pol.

*********

"What you mean my officer is missing? How the hell could he get up and disappear?" Archer leaned forward in his seat, staring at the picture on the viewscreen. The moment that Reed had returned and reported that Trip was missing, the captain had hailed the Supreme Chancellor for a 'status report'. The results hadn't been too pleasing.

"We believe he broke out of his cell," Ma'Takk responded. Her face was grim and it was obvious her liking for the Enterprise crew had dropped in the past day. "We found one of our guards unconscious, and the other guard was missing. It's conceivable that she was visiting with your officer, and he kidnapped her."

Archer's face burned with anger. How could they accuse Trip of kidnapping someone? "I really don't think Commander Tucker is the type to abduct someone, chancellor."

"Well we have one of our people missing, and a fugitive on the loose. We're going to get her back, using as much force as necessary. It was very pleasant talking to you again, Captain Archer."

The screen cut off. "It seems, Captain, that Mr. Tucker skimmed through several parts of the information I sent him. He must have believed that abducting a female Kaelynian was allowed in their culture…" T'Pol's voice rang in his ears.

"Sub-Commander. I am not in the mood for that right now. Start scanning for any human lifesigns so we can get him back up here."

"Captain, I'm sure the Kaelynians can handle Mr. Tucker well enough."

Archer took a deep breath. Sometimes he wasn't sure how well T'Pol was handling her emotions. "I don't want my chief engineer shot down, T'Pol…"

"He should have read the padd I sent him."

"T'Pol, find him. That's a direct order."

"If you insist, Captain. But this is Commander Tucker's situation, and he should deal with it."

Archer's mood was sliding down the drain and this bashing of Trip had it careening downhill. "Sub-Commander, find him right now. Don't make him suffer because you're upset he didn't read a damn padd."

"Vulcans suppress their emotions. I am not upset with Mr. Tucker."

Archer could barely suppress a 'fuck you' in the Vulcan's direction.

*********

Trip chewed on something that reminded him strongly of jerky. He and Kalizza had set up camp for the short hours of night, and both were eating what had to have been the first meal of the day. He had been trying to stop his growing temptation towards his companion, but with little luck. And on top all of that, he had a growing question on his mind.

"Hey, ah, Kalizza? Why'd you let me out of jail?" Now was as good a time as any to ask. And hell, the answer couldn't be too bad.

Even with the light of the day dwindling, Trip could tell that she was blushing. "Well…I suppose…I'm…I'm attracted to you?"

"Wha?" The jerky fell out of Trip hands. That wasn't an answer he expected.

"I think you're…cute? I've never seen an alien before…"

There was a long silence. The engineer simply stared at the setting suns in confusion. He was expecting 'I let you out because you didn't know the rules', not the answer that was just thrown at him. He needed to think for a while and sort a few things out. This was going make a difficult situation and he didn't need to –

Kiss? His eyes widened. Kalizza was kissing him. He found himself returning her affections before he jerked himself away. "Whoa, missy. Now, I don't even know if were compatible like…that. So just, hold on."

The Kaelynian blinked, then turned away. "I'm sorry. I should have expected this."

"Hold on. What the hell are you talking about?"

"You don't share my feelings."

Trip paused. How could he possibly answer that question? He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Deny his feelings, and have an uncomfortable relationship with Kalizza, or accept them…and who knows what the hell could happen. "Now, I never said that…"

She kissed him again. Aw, hell. He couldn't take this anymore. He reluctantly began returning the kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist. For the second night in a row, he wasn't going to be getting much sleep.

*********

Captain Archer had been on the bridge all day long. T'Pol had finally convinced him to go to his quarters, but he couldn't possibly sleep. His chief engineer was a fugitive and was no where to be found.

"Porthos, what am I going to do, buddy?" He tossed a bit of cheese in the dog's direction. The dog was in the middle of his yipping reply when Malcolm Reed's voice came over the com.

"Reed to Archer."

"Archer here. What do you have to report?"

"Captain, we've found a human signature. There are also dozens of Kaelynian signatures within a twenty kilometer radius."

A small smile spread across Archer's face. "Reed, get a shuttlepod down there and let's get our chief engineer back."

"Yes, sir!"

*********

The first of the system's three suns was rising over the horizon when Lieutenant Reed landed the shuttlepod on Kaelyn VII's dusty ground. He immediately jumped out and took a running start towards where sensors had read a human lifesign. He was surprised to find Trip in his Starfleet-issue bright blue undershirt; his uniform partially zipped up with a half-dressed Kaelynian woman.

"Commander Tucker?" He almost couldn't believe his eyes. This certainly was not a 'gentlemanly' course of action for the engineer.

"Holy shit! Malcolm!" Trip's eyes went wide as he caught sight of the armory officer. He quickly zipped his uniform up the rest of the way. "How'd you find me?"

"Sensors…found you." The Lieutenant still didn't quite know what to say. His only thought was that he wished he had brought T'Pol along.

Trip grinned weakly, "Hey, Malcolm, I'll be with you in just one second."

The armory officer shook his head and started walking back to the shuttle. Well, as soon as the commander came back, he'd have some explaining to do.

*********

"Listen, I gotta go." Trip's eyes were glued on the shuttlepod that wasn't too far away.

"But...Trip..." Kalizza looked devastated. She turned around and began picking up some discarded pieces of clothing. She took a deep breath. "Good-bye, then."

Tucker kissed her cheek gently and started walking off. "Listen, 'Lizz, I'll try and stop by the next time I'm in the system. I don't think the authorities would be too happy with me, considering I kidnapped you and all, but I'll try."

He never got a reply. Trip made his way into the shuttlepod and sat down in the back. Reed turned around from the helm. "Malcolm, you better not say a word."

"I'm just wondering why the two of you were half dressed, Commander." Malcolm voice was saturated with amusement.

Trip drummed his fingers on his knee, glaring at the other officer. "You were right, when they're not in parties, the Kaelynian women run 'round half-naked. And have you ever been in one-hundred-degree weather with these damn jumpsuits on? You'd like to take it off too."

"Whatever you say Commander."

"Don't make me beat the shit out of you, Lieutenant. Captain's not here to stop me."

"I can drop you off at the prison if you like."

Trip snorted, glaring at Reed. "Hey, I have another rumor I need to correct. You know how you said the population was seventy-five percent female? You were wrong."

"And what's the real number, Commander?"

"Ninety-eight percent. And all of those love criminals."

Trip rode back to the ship in silence. He could have his fun until T'Pol found out what he said and corrected him in front of a large crowd and scolded him for a rumor she heard about being found half-dressed with woman. Boy, he'd never live that down.

The only thing that he should've known was that the rumor about Kaelynian women being very fertile was very true.

(Ah. Don't you love how I end this fic? It'll torture you until I expand the story…)