Enterprise 05
"What was that all about?" Malcolm asked Trip as they headed for the bridge. "Your guess is as good as mine." Trip shrugged. They walked on in silence until they got into the turbolift. He turned to Malcolm. "So, what was Lieutenant Remscheid like?" "I beg your pardon." Malcolm looked like he'd been hit with a wooden plank on the back of his head. "Oh, c'mon Malcolm. You know what I'm talking about. Have fun?" Malcolm turned red. "If you must know, yes, she's fun. A little odd, but fun. Very nice, too." "I didn't think that tiny blondes were your thing." "I also didn't think that you liked short grey haired engineers." Malcolm shot back. Trip looked like Malcolm had a little earlier. "Excuse me?" "Oh come on, Commander." Malcolm said, a smile crossing his face. "I saw the two of you talking." "He's just a nice guy. He also helped me get the engine to work without falling apart at warp 5." "That was nice of him." Malcolm acknowledged. "Still, he kept giving you an odd look when he thought no one was looking. If you aren't inclined that way, I'm positive he is." "Just based on some looks?" "Not entirely. Computer, pause turbolift." He took a breath and continued. "From what Alex told me, Tyler has not once in his life had a girlfriend or even expressed an interest in ever doing so. That alone wouldn't be enough to make it firm, but she also said that there's some weird belief that her ancestors had about that. Tyler, apparently, has a twin. Alex didn't mention the twin's name, but he has one. Anyways, they believed that when twins of the same gender are born, that one is really the opposite of what they appear to be. They are raised as the opposite gender." "So your saying that Tyler might not be what he really appears to be?" "Tyler's definitely male, but it's possible that his twin is the male of the pair and Tyler was raised as a girl." "Malcolm, that makes no sense whatsoever. Tyler is quite obviously masculine." "Does the word 'tomboy' mean anything to you? Computer resume. Think about that. Tyler is male, but might not think like one." The lift doors opened and they walked out onto the bridge.
Archer turned when her heard the lift doors open. Trip had a very puzzled look on his face. Malcolm, on the other hand, looked quite happy. With a pleased sounding chuckle, he went over to his post and sat down. Trip just stood by the doors to the lift, frowning. Every ohnce in a while he'd look up and look out at the view of the Genesis floating in space just a head of them. A shuttle pod apporached it. Hoshi looked over at Trip and raised an eyebrow. "Something wrong Commander?" she asked. "You look confused." "It's nothing, really." he shook his head. "Nothing." Hoshi' console beeped before Archer could say anything to his Chief Engineer. "Captain Kyle is hailing us, sir." "On screen." he said, making a mental note to talk to Trip later. Captain Kyle's friendly face appeared on the view. "Nice to see you all again. Thanks again for the wonderful party last night." The lift doors
behind her opened, revealing a grumbling Tyler and a grinning Alex. Lieutenant Adams walked on, shaking her head. Serena looked at them and grinned. "If I know those two as well as I think I do, it was quite a night." She shot Alex a meaningful look. The chief armory officer meerly shrugged and grinned, streatching happily. "Anyways, we've gotten our orders from Starfleet. We're supposed to head over to the next star system to have a look at a comet." Behind her, Tyler rolled his eyes and yawned. "Joy. Ye ken wha' this means. Engine overhaul. Again! Tha's the third time this month." "That's hardly my fault, Wolffe." Serena scolded. "Who keeps mucking wtih it? Who keeps insisting it needs work?" Tyler grinned. "I don' ken wha' ye're talkin' about Cap'n. Tis no' me, tha's fer sure." "Oh brother." Alex rolled her eyes. "Don't try pulling that 'blame all the engineers but yourself' routine. It doesn't work." Over oon the Enterprise, Trip had a very odd look on his face. He watched the view screen intently, but to those who had no idea what had been going on, namely everyone except Malcolm, it was unclear what he was staring at. Malcolm himself was more interested in watching Alex as she reumed paying attention to her console. She looked up, caught his eye, winked and smiled weakly, and went back to poking at something. Archer smiled, missing the exchange. "Sounds fairly dull if you ask me. We don't have any plans that I know of. Mind if we tag along?" "Not at all." Serena looked slightly relieved. Wolffe, however, looked a little ill for some reason. Lieutenant Adams looked over at him. "Are you feeling ok sir? You look like you're going to be sick." Wolffe waved a hand at her. "I'm fine Lieutenant. I jus' need t' lie down fer a wee bit. Tha's all." Serena looked back at him and frowned. "I agree. You look like hell commander." Anne walked on to the Enterprise bridge, took one look at Tyler and frowned. "Tyler, get down t' sick bay. Ye need help." "What's wrong with him?" Trip asked. "I'm tellin' ye Anne. I don' need medicine. I jus' need t' lie down for a wee. Tha's all." "Ye need a bit more than tha'." she looked over at Alex. "Do me a favour Lieutenant, and call Lieutenant McCormick down in sickbay. Tell him tha' if Tyler doesna show up there soon ye both have my full permission t' do what'ere it takes t' get him down there and get checked out. Restraints, sedatives, what'ere. I doo't care." "That serious, huh?" Now Archer was looking concerned. "Y'see, Cap'n, Wolffe has a very...unique condition tha' I'm not at liberty t' talk about t' people who aren't fully aware of the situation. I'm also no' permitted t' inform any one of tha' situation either. The crew of the Genesis is equipped to handle it; how'ere, Wolffe has developed a phobia o' doctors." Anne smiled slightly at that. "Tis quite funny at times. This is no' one o' them." "I'm tellin' ye..." Wolffe started. "Ye'll do as ye're told or I'll tell." Anne said, her normally sweet and gentle voice taking on a threatning tone. "I'm warnin' ye. Ye ken wha'll happen if ye don' comply." Wolffe blanched even more, if that was possible. His shoulders slumped after another moment. "Fine. I'll go. I don' like it, but I'll go." Anne was visibly relieved, but Trip still looked slightly concerned. He made a note to talk to talk to Anne about it later. As Wolffe left the bridge, plans were amde to pool the resources of the two ships to better observe the comet. T'pol made an offhand remark about the comet's trajectory taking it near an inhabited star system after Ensign Tomas Mittermeyer sent them the coordiantes, which excited Archer. Serena was more interested in the comet, but Archer's enthusiasm was tangible to all. After a little while longer, Trip excused himself to go down to engineering and Captain Kyle closed their communication not long after that. Archer leaned back in his chair, instructing Travis to head for the comet. He had planned on talking to Trip, but that would wait until he could get him alone. He'd call him up to his ready room later, when they both got off shift. Malcom informed him that the Genesis was matching their speed and heading, pacing right beside them.
Wolffe galred at the doctor as he sat on the edge of a bed, the sleeve of his jumpsuit rolled up to reveal a well formed bicep. Lieutenant Jason McCormick applied a hypospray to his arm, releasing a dosage of medication into his system with a hiss. "Be a little moe careful next time, there Tyler." he scolded. "I don't like seeign you down here so often. It's not good for you and I do get tired of having you taking up space in my sickbay." "Can it Jason." Tyler growled, showing his teeth. "I don' need ye on my case. Anne is quite enough." "And that's more than most people can handle." he admitted. "Still, I do wish you'd tell me what set you off this badly." "Tis no' ye're business, Jason." "I can argue that as chief medical officer, but it'll take more truth serum than has ever been created to pry it out of you and I don't have the time to waste on torturing you, so I guess I'll have to leave it be for now. I'm just relieved Anne is as nosey as she is and ordered you down here." he paused and pered at him. "Are you sure you two aren't amrried? You sure act liek it sometimes." "I'm sure, Jason. Marry tha'? Are ye daft man? I wouldna do somethin' tha' phenominally daft and ye ken tha' well." "Aye, I ken, I ken." he laughed, imitaitng her accent. His tone grew more serious. "Just be careful, ok? Alex and Anne would both use my hide for a wall hanging if anything ever happened to you." "Aye, aye. Can I go now?" At his reluctant nod, Tyler hopped off the bed and headed out the door and towards his cabin to shower. 'I still say tha' all I needed was t' lie down for a wee.' he grumped to himself as he rolled his sleeve back down. He walked into his qauters and just flopped down on his bed, staring up at the celing in contemplation. Contemplation of what had just happened, of his visit to the Enterprise, of Anne ordering him to get down to sickbay, of Alex's night with that other armory chief. A brief wash of envy hit him at that last one. What would it be like...? 'No!' he almost screamed out loud. 'I canna be thinkin' things like ta'. No' here. No' now. No' after what jus' happened today. I canna afford to.' Forcing his mind away from that, Tyler rolled over on to his stomach and buried his face in a pillow, his shaggy grey hair falling forward. "I canna take this anymore! I'll go crazy if it continues. Why did this have t' happen t' me? Why!!!" The last he screamed out as the years of repressed
agony caught up with him. It was just a fluke that it wasn't loud enough for anyone else to hear, that there was no one around who could have heard him. Had he waited another few seconds, a crewman sent to repair a nearby terminal would have heard him. Tyler degenerated into racking sobs that couldn't be heard outside of his cabin, muffled as they were by the pillow he'd buried his face in. When the sobbing subsided, he sat up and wiped his face off with one hand and reached for the comm with the other. he hailed the bridge, letting
them know that he was going to catch a quick shower and head over to engineering. That done, he sent a similar hail to engineering, got up and walked into the small bathroom at one end of his cabin. Dimly, a memory of Trip offering him the use of the shower in his cabin floated up. Tyler smiled faintly. "If only he kent." He shook his head as he peeled his uniform off. "Would ye think so highly of me if ye kent wha' was wrong wtih me? I sometimes wonder if anyone could possibly accept me for wha' I am and no' what they think I am. How long can I possibly hope t' keep this charade up? I always kent tha' it wouldna be forever. Funny thing is tha' I dson' care much about hidding anymore, but I'm no' left with much choice in the matter, now am I? I'm jus' gald tha' I have Anne and Alex." He laughed, a short laugh full of bitterness. "Granted, in order to keep Anne nearby we have to have Enterprise with us. How long? How long before they figure it out? How long before they find out what I am?" He shuddered at the thought. The Enterprise crew came off to him as being a bit naive, not really prepared to deal wtih all that the universe had in store for them. "How will they react to the reality? They don' strike me as the kind o' people tha' would deal wtih harsh reality overly well." He climbed into the shower and turned the water on as hot as it would go, gasping at the scalding heat washing over his body. When he adjusted to
it, he sat down on the floor, cuddling his knees up to his chest and sat. Just sat, letting his maind wander, exploring possibilities that would never become reality. All of his dreams would never meet reality. "Tha's enough moping." he said decisivrly. "I canna do anythin' about it, so I might as well jus' get on wtih life. I have a job to do, so I'd best get out o' here before the water starts to cool." He stood, reaching for a towel and dryed himself off before putting on a clean uniform. He didn't bother trying to dry his hair as it would dry just fine as he worked on the engines. He just brushed it out and tucked the ends into a small tail to keep it out of his face. He'd have to get a hair cut soon, but that could wait. He paused in front of the doors to his cabin. "Here goes nothin'." he said, sqauring his shoulders and walking out of his cabin and down towards engineering.
"What was that all about?" Malcolm asked Trip as they headed for the bridge. "Your guess is as good as mine." Trip shrugged. They walked on in silence until they got into the turbolift. He turned to Malcolm. "So, what was Lieutenant Remscheid like?" "I beg your pardon." Malcolm looked like he'd been hit with a wooden plank on the back of his head. "Oh, c'mon Malcolm. You know what I'm talking about. Have fun?" Malcolm turned red. "If you must know, yes, she's fun. A little odd, but fun. Very nice, too." "I didn't think that tiny blondes were your thing." "I also didn't think that you liked short grey haired engineers." Malcolm shot back. Trip looked like Malcolm had a little earlier. "Excuse me?" "Oh come on, Commander." Malcolm said, a smile crossing his face. "I saw the two of you talking." "He's just a nice guy. He also helped me get the engine to work without falling apart at warp 5." "That was nice of him." Malcolm acknowledged. "Still, he kept giving you an odd look when he thought no one was looking. If you aren't inclined that way, I'm positive he is." "Just based on some looks?" "Not entirely. Computer, pause turbolift." He took a breath and continued. "From what Alex told me, Tyler has not once in his life had a girlfriend or even expressed an interest in ever doing so. That alone wouldn't be enough to make it firm, but she also said that there's some weird belief that her ancestors had about that. Tyler, apparently, has a twin. Alex didn't mention the twin's name, but he has one. Anyways, they believed that when twins of the same gender are born, that one is really the opposite of what they appear to be. They are raised as the opposite gender." "So your saying that Tyler might not be what he really appears to be?" "Tyler's definitely male, but it's possible that his twin is the male of the pair and Tyler was raised as a girl." "Malcolm, that makes no sense whatsoever. Tyler is quite obviously masculine." "Does the word 'tomboy' mean anything to you? Computer resume. Think about that. Tyler is male, but might not think like one." The lift doors opened and they walked out onto the bridge.
Archer turned when her heard the lift doors open. Trip had a very puzzled look on his face. Malcolm, on the other hand, looked quite happy. With a pleased sounding chuckle, he went over to his post and sat down. Trip just stood by the doors to the lift, frowning. Every ohnce in a while he'd look up and look out at the view of the Genesis floating in space just a head of them. A shuttle pod apporached it. Hoshi looked over at Trip and raised an eyebrow. "Something wrong Commander?" she asked. "You look confused." "It's nothing, really." he shook his head. "Nothing." Hoshi' console beeped before Archer could say anything to his Chief Engineer. "Captain Kyle is hailing us, sir." "On screen." he said, making a mental note to talk to Trip later. Captain Kyle's friendly face appeared on the view. "Nice to see you all again. Thanks again for the wonderful party last night." The lift doors
behind her opened, revealing a grumbling Tyler and a grinning Alex. Lieutenant Adams walked on, shaking her head. Serena looked at them and grinned. "If I know those two as well as I think I do, it was quite a night." She shot Alex a meaningful look. The chief armory officer meerly shrugged and grinned, streatching happily. "Anyways, we've gotten our orders from Starfleet. We're supposed to head over to the next star system to have a look at a comet." Behind her, Tyler rolled his eyes and yawned. "Joy. Ye ken wha' this means. Engine overhaul. Again! Tha's the third time this month." "That's hardly my fault, Wolffe." Serena scolded. "Who keeps mucking wtih it? Who keeps insisting it needs work?" Tyler grinned. "I don' ken wha' ye're talkin' about Cap'n. Tis no' me, tha's fer sure." "Oh brother." Alex rolled her eyes. "Don't try pulling that 'blame all the engineers but yourself' routine. It doesn't work." Over oon the Enterprise, Trip had a very odd look on his face. He watched the view screen intently, but to those who had no idea what had been going on, namely everyone except Malcolm, it was unclear what he was staring at. Malcolm himself was more interested in watching Alex as she reumed paying attention to her console. She looked up, caught his eye, winked and smiled weakly, and went back to poking at something. Archer smiled, missing the exchange. "Sounds fairly dull if you ask me. We don't have any plans that I know of. Mind if we tag along?" "Not at all." Serena looked slightly relieved. Wolffe, however, looked a little ill for some reason. Lieutenant Adams looked over at him. "Are you feeling ok sir? You look like you're going to be sick." Wolffe waved a hand at her. "I'm fine Lieutenant. I jus' need t' lie down fer a wee bit. Tha's all." Serena looked back at him and frowned. "I agree. You look like hell commander." Anne walked on to the Enterprise bridge, took one look at Tyler and frowned. "Tyler, get down t' sick bay. Ye need help." "What's wrong with him?" Trip asked. "I'm tellin' ye Anne. I don' need medicine. I jus' need t' lie down for a wee. Tha's all." "Ye need a bit more than tha'." she looked over at Alex. "Do me a favour Lieutenant, and call Lieutenant McCormick down in sickbay. Tell him tha' if Tyler doesna show up there soon ye both have my full permission t' do what'ere it takes t' get him down there and get checked out. Restraints, sedatives, what'ere. I doo't care." "That serious, huh?" Now Archer was looking concerned. "Y'see, Cap'n, Wolffe has a very...unique condition tha' I'm not at liberty t' talk about t' people who aren't fully aware of the situation. I'm also no' permitted t' inform any one of tha' situation either. The crew of the Genesis is equipped to handle it; how'ere, Wolffe has developed a phobia o' doctors." Anne smiled slightly at that. "Tis quite funny at times. This is no' one o' them." "I'm tellin' ye..." Wolffe started. "Ye'll do as ye're told or I'll tell." Anne said, her normally sweet and gentle voice taking on a threatning tone. "I'm warnin' ye. Ye ken wha'll happen if ye don' comply." Wolffe blanched even more, if that was possible. His shoulders slumped after another moment. "Fine. I'll go. I don' like it, but I'll go." Anne was visibly relieved, but Trip still looked slightly concerned. He made a note to talk to talk to Anne about it later. As Wolffe left the bridge, plans were amde to pool the resources of the two ships to better observe the comet. T'pol made an offhand remark about the comet's trajectory taking it near an inhabited star system after Ensign Tomas Mittermeyer sent them the coordiantes, which excited Archer. Serena was more interested in the comet, but Archer's enthusiasm was tangible to all. After a little while longer, Trip excused himself to go down to engineering and Captain Kyle closed their communication not long after that. Archer leaned back in his chair, instructing Travis to head for the comet. He had planned on talking to Trip, but that would wait until he could get him alone. He'd call him up to his ready room later, when they both got off shift. Malcom informed him that the Genesis was matching their speed and heading, pacing right beside them.
Wolffe galred at the doctor as he sat on the edge of a bed, the sleeve of his jumpsuit rolled up to reveal a well formed bicep. Lieutenant Jason McCormick applied a hypospray to his arm, releasing a dosage of medication into his system with a hiss. "Be a little moe careful next time, there Tyler." he scolded. "I don't like seeign you down here so often. It's not good for you and I do get tired of having you taking up space in my sickbay." "Can it Jason." Tyler growled, showing his teeth. "I don' need ye on my case. Anne is quite enough." "And that's more than most people can handle." he admitted. "Still, I do wish you'd tell me what set you off this badly." "Tis no' ye're business, Jason." "I can argue that as chief medical officer, but it'll take more truth serum than has ever been created to pry it out of you and I don't have the time to waste on torturing you, so I guess I'll have to leave it be for now. I'm just relieved Anne is as nosey as she is and ordered you down here." he paused and pered at him. "Are you sure you two aren't amrried? You sure act liek it sometimes." "I'm sure, Jason. Marry tha'? Are ye daft man? I wouldna do somethin' tha' phenominally daft and ye ken tha' well." "Aye, I ken, I ken." he laughed, imitaitng her accent. His tone grew more serious. "Just be careful, ok? Alex and Anne would both use my hide for a wall hanging if anything ever happened to you." "Aye, aye. Can I go now?" At his reluctant nod, Tyler hopped off the bed and headed out the door and towards his cabin to shower. 'I still say tha' all I needed was t' lie down for a wee.' he grumped to himself as he rolled his sleeve back down. He walked into his qauters and just flopped down on his bed, staring up at the celing in contemplation. Contemplation of what had just happened, of his visit to the Enterprise, of Anne ordering him to get down to sickbay, of Alex's night with that other armory chief. A brief wash of envy hit him at that last one. What would it be like...? 'No!' he almost screamed out loud. 'I canna be thinkin' things like ta'. No' here. No' now. No' after what jus' happened today. I canna afford to.' Forcing his mind away from that, Tyler rolled over on to his stomach and buried his face in a pillow, his shaggy grey hair falling forward. "I canna take this anymore! I'll go crazy if it continues. Why did this have t' happen t' me? Why!!!" The last he screamed out as the years of repressed
agony caught up with him. It was just a fluke that it wasn't loud enough for anyone else to hear, that there was no one around who could have heard him. Had he waited another few seconds, a crewman sent to repair a nearby terminal would have heard him. Tyler degenerated into racking sobs that couldn't be heard outside of his cabin, muffled as they were by the pillow he'd buried his face in. When the sobbing subsided, he sat up and wiped his face off with one hand and reached for the comm with the other. he hailed the bridge, letting
them know that he was going to catch a quick shower and head over to engineering. That done, he sent a similar hail to engineering, got up and walked into the small bathroom at one end of his cabin. Dimly, a memory of Trip offering him the use of the shower in his cabin floated up. Tyler smiled faintly. "If only he kent." He shook his head as he peeled his uniform off. "Would ye think so highly of me if ye kent wha' was wrong wtih me? I sometimes wonder if anyone could possibly accept me for wha' I am and no' what they think I am. How long can I possibly hope t' keep this charade up? I always kent tha' it wouldna be forever. Funny thing is tha' I dson' care much about hidding anymore, but I'm no' left with much choice in the matter, now am I? I'm jus' gald tha' I have Anne and Alex." He laughed, a short laugh full of bitterness. "Granted, in order to keep Anne nearby we have to have Enterprise with us. How long? How long before they figure it out? How long before they find out what I am?" He shuddered at the thought. The Enterprise crew came off to him as being a bit naive, not really prepared to deal wtih all that the universe had in store for them. "How will they react to the reality? They don' strike me as the kind o' people tha' would deal wtih harsh reality overly well." He climbed into the shower and turned the water on as hot as it would go, gasping at the scalding heat washing over his body. When he adjusted to
it, he sat down on the floor, cuddling his knees up to his chest and sat. Just sat, letting his maind wander, exploring possibilities that would never become reality. All of his dreams would never meet reality. "Tha's enough moping." he said decisivrly. "I canna do anythin' about it, so I might as well jus' get on wtih life. I have a job to do, so I'd best get out o' here before the water starts to cool." He stood, reaching for a towel and dryed himself off before putting on a clean uniform. He didn't bother trying to dry his hair as it would dry just fine as he worked on the engines. He just brushed it out and tucked the ends into a small tail to keep it out of his face. He'd have to get a hair cut soon, but that could wait. He paused in front of the doors to his cabin. "Here goes nothin'." he said, sqauring his shoulders and walking out of his cabin and down towards engineering.