Just a Little Crush

Part Two

Hoshi was having a bad morning. She had a monster of a hangover, and the minor problem she thought she had solved in engineering yesterday had become a ship wide problem today. Every time someone tried to use the Comm system, their words were translated into a myriad of alien languages. T'Pol's eyebrow had been working overtime on the bridge.

"I'm sorry, Captain, Sub-Commander. Every time I get one relay fixed, another one breaks - I can't figure it out," Hoshi apologised, after Trip's engineering report became a garbled message of three distinctly different alien languages.

"Efficient running of the ship depends upon a fully-operative communication system," T'Pol replied in her flat voice. "If the problem has become too large for you to deal with, obtain assistance."

The Captain looked up from his data pads, "You know, Hoshi, it really sounds like there's something wrong with the wiring," he said pleasantly. "Why don't you ask Trip to have a look at it with you?"

"Yes, Captain," Hoshi nodded politely. If you say so, sir, she added privately. Working alone with Trip? Maybe today won't turn out so bad after all…

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"Any better?"

Hoshi tried the Comm again. A loud screech filled the corridor, piercing her eardrums. She hurriedly switched it off.

"No, I don't think so, sir," she called into the cramped panel Comdr. Tucker had crawled into.

Slowly, he squirmed his way back out, giving Hoshi a nice view of his - No! I'm looking at the ceiling… yes the ceiling, interesting rivets…

Trip stood up, dusting himself off. He saw Hoshi staring up at the bulkheads and followed her gaze.

"Something up there?" he asked.

Hoshi jumped, and blushed. "Er, no, no. I was just… thinking."

"I can't understand what's happening," Trip said, scratching his head. "We must've looked at every signal relay on this deck, but I can't find anything."

"You're certain the problem's on D deck?" Hoshi asked.

"The diagnostics we ran seemed pretty concrete, but there could've made a mistake I suppose…" Trip broke off as he noticed several crewmen cris-crossing at the end of the corridor.

"Must be end of shift already," he grinned at Hoshi. "Feel like giving up?"

Hoshi threw her tricorder onto the floor.

"I thought you'd never ask," she grinned back.

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Chef had two slices of pie left and Hoshi and Trip grabbed them guiltlessly.

"So what do we do next?" Hoshi asked as she chewed, savouring the taste of the sugary pie after a long day.

"You're asking me?" Trip raised his eyebrows at her. "Who's the communications officer round here?"

"I think we've established this is an engineering problem, sir," Hoshi smiled sweetly.

Trip couldn't help grinning back; Hoshi's smiles were contagious.

"I guess we have, Ensign. Looks like we could be seeing a lot more of each other in the near future. We'll have to start checkin' the signal relays on every other deck now," Trip sighed, reaching for his glass of milk.

Mmm, could take weeks…

"The Captain won't be too happy that the Comm's still malfunctioning. In fact the only person who will be is Doctor Phlox. For some reason all the messages to sick bay are translated into Denobulan," Hoshi told him.

Trip gave a chuckle, then tapped the side of his head thoughtfully with his spoon. "You know we can still send visual data between decks without any trouble, and we could probably do without the UT for a few days. I say we should turn 'em both off till we get this sorted - the in-ship Comm system and the UT. It'd make our work a lot quicker. And who knows, with the UT offline, the Comm system may function as normal again. Probably we jest need to give the translator a few tweaks, and it'll stop givin' us trouble."

"A few tweaks?"

"That's an engineering term, Hosh, don't worry about it."

She laughed, and then sobered a little as she realised what turning off the UT implied.

"It'll make sending sub-space communications almost impossible," Hoshi grimaced. "All those alien languages to wade through. There can't be any away missions - not to inhabited planets, anyway. And if any first contact situations arise, I'll have to cope on my own. "

"I guess it's lucky that we have a talented exolingusitics expert on board then, ain't it?" Trip commented.

"Easy for you to say, commander, but I'm under enough pressure everyday even with the UT for support, without it…" she broke off.

"First, call me Trip, okay Hoshi? We're off duty now. And second, if you're trying to make me doubt you - you're wastin' ya time. You're way past the stage of proving yourself here, Hoshi. We couldn't survive without you, and you know that. And I may be an engineer, but if I had to choose between havin' you or a damn computer with me on an alien planet, I'd choose you every time. We'll be fine for a couple a days."

Hoshi smiled at him. "Thank you, Trip, that's very kind of you to say that." And can I just add that I think you're fantastic?

"Jus' telling the truth, Hoshi. My momma taught me always to tell the truth."

Hoshi just blushed.

"Well hel-lo Hoshi, Commander Tucker," Liz Cutler came up behind Trip grinning madly at Hoshi.

"Crewman," Trip nodded politely. "Can you join us?"

Cutler's eyes widened. "Oh, no, Commander, no, I just couldn't possibly… " Hoshi, seeing Trip's frown of confusion, glared at her friend. If he starts getting the wrong idea (the right idea I mean) - you're dead! "Err… What I mean is, I can't join you. I'm, ah, I'm meeting Ensign Rorke in a few minutes, so I'll have to leave you two to it. To your discussion I mean. And your pie. Yeah, okay… so, enjoy!"

Liz Cutler hurried away from their table, but couldn't resist turning round and giving Hoshi a thumbs up, once she was out of Tucker's eye line.

Hoshi just shook her head.

"Is she always so…"

"Weird?" Hoshi supplied.

"Yeah," Trip laughed.

"Usually," Hoshi nodded. "And thanks for the pie, Commander, but I guess I should get going now. It's just been one of those days today."

"Sure, Hoshi, try and relax a little. And don't worry too much about the UT. The Captain has faith in you, and so do I. Hell, even T'Pol thinks you're indispensable."

"Thanks, Commander, I appreciate it."

"You're welcome, Hoshi, and I told you - off duty you call me Trip, okay?"

"Okay, Trip," Hoshi smiled. "Have a nice evening."

"See you tomorrow Hoshi, sweet dreams," he called out after her.

Hoshi grinned stupidly to herself as she walked to the turbo lift. No worries there, she thought.

More coming soon…