Chapter Five

About five days later ...


The ensigns Sato and Mayweather and Crewman Cutler were gathered together in a quiet corner of the mess hall during breakfast. Travis hesitated a sly glance over his shoulder at Phlox and Zeller, who were silently eating breakfast together. The chief medical officer looked as though he was desperately hoping to be spontaneously blown out the nearest window and into space. Doctor Zeller was reading a data pad and eating at the same time, oblivious to her companion's discomfort.

"They play chess in here every night at midnight." Ensign Sato told her crew mates quietly, looking at the pair over the rim of her glass as she took a drink of her morning tea. "Every night." she repeated for emphasis.

"Shouldn't we wait until they leave before we start comparing notes?" asked Travis uncomfortably.

"They can't hear us over the rest of the crew." said Cutler impatiently, glancing around the crowded mess.

"You must know something." accused Hoshi.

"Commander Tucker told Ensign Knight that she wasn't 'right in the head' and to stay away from her. I wish one or both of them had elaborated." sighed the crewman.

"She keeps to herself a lot. Maybe she's one of those disturbed geniuses or something." suggested Travis with a shrug.

"Yeah, maybe." nodded Cutler in agreement.

"Have either of you actually spoken to Doctor Zeller?" questioned Hoshi, who had her doubts. They both shook their heads. "If we really want to know what's going on, one of us really should." she suggested.

"You're the one with the communication skills." said Travis hastily as they both smiled at him.

"But you're charming." said Cutler with a grin. "And you said she's pretty." she added.

"Hey, I didn't think that was going to come back to haunt me." he objected. "Hoshi, you can't make me do this! I mean, what would I say to her? 'Hi, doctor, they sent me to figure out what's wrong with you.' No way!"

"Let's at least make this fair. How about drawing straws?" questioned Hoshi, who did not relish the assignment, especially when she thought about the words the woman had said to the Vulcans carrying her luggage.

"Fair enough." agreed Travis.


When Ensign Mayweather had drawn the shortest drinking straw, there had been much mirth, which was suppressed before it merited the attention of the other crew members dining that morning. But Travis couldn't refuse the assignment. The drawing had been fair, after all. His shift ended about half an hour before dinner, at which time he customarily joined his friends for the evening repast. It was decided that since he wasn't wild about the idea of playing chess with Doctor Zeller, he would invite her to share a table with him at dinner as a friendly gesture. That was the best scheme that the trio of curious, young crew mates could come up with on such short notice.

Travis, as he walked very slowly toward the quarters where Doctor Zeller was staying, felt monumentally uncomfortable. It brought back the disagreeable memory of when his parents' cargo ship, the Horizon, had docked with the Serendipity where the Draylax-Vega run met up with the Draylax-Alpha Centauri run. He had just turned sixteen, and the captain of he Serendipity had a daughter who was the same age. His parents had urged him to go over and meet the girl, probably hoping that they would hit it off. That was how boomers found their wives and husbands. Meet someone on another ship, correspond for a year or two, and then get married next time they were able to see each other. There was a lot of pressure involved, or so Travis Mayweather thought, but it scarcely held a candle to asking Doctor Zeller to dinner, and not even in a romantic way.

The ensign pressed the buzzer on her door and waited for her to answer. When the door opened, the woman standing there looked at least a little surprised.

Mayweather grimaced as he said, "I'm Ensign Travis Mayweather, doctor. I've seen you having dinner alone for a couple of days now. I was wondering if you wanted some company." It was more or less what his accomplices had instructed him to say to her.

Astrid Zeller laughed softly and crossed her arms as she inquired, "Is that so, ensign? How very kind of you!"

She was a little confused, not to mention ever-so-slightly unnerved. She was certain that Phlox had not put the young man up to it. Most of the crew, from what she could tell, had given her a wide berth, almost as though they had been warned about her. Where many in her position would have felt offense, Astrid Zeller had found only vague amusement.

"Any idea what they're serving tonight?" she questioned, gesturing for him to lead the way and allowing the door to close behind her.

"I think it's spaghetti, doctor."

"Please, you don't have to call me that. Astrid is much better." she told him with a smile that unsuccessfully belied her feelings of self-importance.

"Um, sure ... Astrid. You can call me Travis then." he said nervously as he thought, "She doesn't seem crazy, but I still have the uncanny feeling that this is going to be a long meal."


The mess hall had already begun to fill with crewmen who had just finished their shift and wanted to get some chow. When Ensign Mayweather and Astrid Zeller had finished preparing two trays of steaming spaghetti and meatballs, they made their way to a table with a view and sat down.

Travis stirred his hot plate of pasta and glanced at his dinner companion. He stuck with his original estimation of her. She was indeed pretty. They didn't have many blondes on the Enterprise. It was nice to look at one for a change, although by his estimation, she was probably at least fifteen years his senior.

"So what do you do aboard the Enterprise?" Zeller asked him conversationally, watching him play with his food.

"I pilot the ship." said Travis proudly. "And the shuttlepod too sometimes." he added.

"Sounds exciting." Astrid commented, though her voice lacked a certain sincerity.

"It is, most of the time, but we go through days, sometimes weeks of just open space. I saw enough of that as a kid to last a lifetime." he told her.

"As a kid? In space?" she questioned skeptically.

"I'm a boomer. My parents ran cargo. They still do."

"Have you ever been to earth then, Travis?" she inquired, her interest becoming quickly more genuine.

"Of course." he chuckled. "I went to the Academy, after all."

Doctor Zeller smiled at that and nodded, "Naturally. I was a doctor there, you know, for quite some time."

"Yeah? Did you teach any classes or were a staff doctor?"

"Research. I was doing medical research through the Academy as well as the occasional physical for members of the admiralty and so forth." she explained.

"Then you joined the Interspecies Medical Exchange?"

"How did you know that?"

"Oh, Hoshi told me. She was there when you came aboard."

Astrid seemed to accept the answer without additional thought and told him, "Yes, then I joined the exchange. I had no idea how difficult it would be to live among the Vulcans on that horrid desert planet of theirs. Believe me, if I had had even the slightest notion of how bad it was going to be, then, career advancement or not, I would have stayed on earth."

"You didn't enjoy traveling in space, meeting new people, seeing another planet ... or any of it?" questioned Mayweather, frowning. He was very much taken aback by her forthright statements.

"Well, I must admit that the idea of traveling among the stars still appeals to me, but I like it much better here on a human ship among my own people." she confessed.

"Yeah, but we're explorers. We're all out here to see people and places that humans haven't had the opportunity to see before. It's about more than zipping through spaces with our buddies, you know." Travis told her. "I get the feeling that you aren't comfortable with alien races, except maybe Phlox, and exploration involves stepping outside your comfort zone. It may not always be nice, but it is usually worth it." he continued.

"Everyone should be an idealist when they're young." she said condescendingly. "But I don't believe that different species were meant to mingle."

"You've got to be kidding me!" exclaimed Travis in disbelief.

"Humans are better off when we maintain solidarity. Interacting with aliens ... it isn't an especially good idea. You see, we evolved from the conditions present on earth. Our planet shaped us and made us who and what we are. The same is true of the aliens races. They evolved separate from us and therefore don't have a share in our destiny. It is in our best interest, in the best interest of humanity, to remain a strong, cohesive unit." she explained to him with some fervor.

"Separate, but equal?" scoffed Travis. "That will never work. Curiosity is a big part of human nature. No one likes the idea of being bound to the planet. We were meant to meet other, alien races and learn about them. Some of them have a lot to teach us. We are all part of the same galaxy, the same universe, after all." he argued.

"But by teaching aliens what we know, we may be unwittingly giving weapons to our enemies." she countered.

"Knowledge is power." he agreed. "But it's a two-way street. We may learn ways to make our lives better and improve our technology."

"We are a very capable species, Travis. We can learn on our own. Given that the Vulcans interfered with our science and held us back for decades, we may actually be substantially better off on our own."

"The Vulcans were probably doing what they thought was best for us." he pointed out.

"How will we ever know that for sure? I'm not willing to trust those pointy-ear machines blindly."

"I've served with a Vulcan officer for a while now. I can vouch for the integrity of at least her." said Travis firmly.

Astrid chuckled and said, "Very well then, but what about the other aliens you've met out here? Are they all as ... trustworthy as the Vulcans, or, minimally, your Vulcan officer?"

Ensign Mayweather thought about the Nausicans, the Tandarans, and the guys with the big ears that had tried to rob them. He hesitated, but then he chuckled.

"Point taken, but that still doesn't justify paranoid isolationism." he said.

"You may change your tune before your tour of duty is over, Travis." she told him.

Travis grinned and said, "But even if I do, I'm bound to have some fun along the way, which is more than I can say for the way you're going." Standing, he added, "It's been nice having dinner with you. I think I understand a lot better now."

Astrid gave him a quizzical look as he picked up his tray and left. What could he possibly understand better?

"What a strange young man." Doctor Zeller murmured, turning her attention toward the window and the stars rushing by.


The three conspirators had agreed to meet in Hoshi's quarters after Travis had completed his assignment. Since Cutler had been among the crewmen moved out of their quarters in a very complicated attempt to free a set for Doctor Zeller, it was especially convenient as she was sleeping in a spare bunk next door. Travis considered calling off the meeting after what he had learned. It was almost too depressing for words. But the girls were depending on him, and he knew that they wouldn't let him off the hook.

Ensign Mayweather stood outside in the corridor for several minutes before pressing the button to alert Hoshi that she had a visitor. For a moment he thought he could actually hear the scampering of her small feet across the deck as she dashed to answer the summons. When the door whisked open, Cutler was standing there grinning.

"You're early!" she exclaimed, ushering him inside.

"But you're already here." he pointed out, glancing at Hoshi, who was sitting on the bed, obviously catching up on some of her work. The communications officer was always busy with a data pad of an alien language.

"The anticipation was killing her." said Hoshi, tearing herself away from the pad and gesturing for Travis to have a seat.

"So what did you find out about the mysterious Doctor Zeller?" questioned Cutler as Travis didn't show any sign of giving a report.

"Are you sure you want to hear this? It isn't good." he warned them uncertainly.

"Come on, Travis. You can't leave us in the dark." said Hoshi.

For a moment the young ensign wanted to sugar coat what he was about to tell them, but then some of the anger and frustration that he had felt began to surface. He took a deep breath before speaking.

"She's some kind of anti-alien, xenophobic freak." he said, spitting it out all at once.

Hoshi and Crewman Cutler sat there in stunned silence just staring at him for a moment, taking in the full meaning of his words.

"Wait a minute." said Cutler, shaking her head in confusion. "But ... that doesn't make any sense."

"No, it makes a lot of sense," said Hoshi with a sigh, recalling what Zeller had said to the Vulcan cargo handlers and how displeased and uncomfortable Phlox seemed with her presence on the ship

"At least we can understand now why Commander Tucker wants his people to steer clear of her. I can't imagine many things that would upset him more." commented Cutler.

"That's for sure." agreed Travis.

"So, Phlox knows too, right? But what about Captain Archer?" questioned Hoshi.

"He can't possibly know. He would be of the same mind as the commander." said Ensign Mayweather.

"I don't know." said Cutler doubtfully. The other two crew members looked at her an explanation. "I know it's horrible and everything, but I don't think the captain would have isolated her. He's optimistic, you know? Maybe he thinks that we, that the crew, could open her eyes just a little." she suggested hesitantly.

Travis and Hoshi grinned at the thought. The captain had a lot of faith in them. He trusted his crew to make the right decisions and to be people of good character. The situation was a great reminder of that.

"Yeah, maybe you're right." agreed Ensign Mayweather, feeling much better about the situation.


Doctor Zeller was already waiting for him when Phlox walked into the mess hall with his chess set sometime just before midnight. She was sipping her coffee thoughtfully and gazing out the window. It seemed as though Astrid could never get enough star-gazing. He certainly could not blame her. The view from the mess hall was one of the best on board the Enterprise.

Astrid seemed to startle from her reverie as Phlox set the board down upon the table and took his accustomed seat. She smiled slightly and something unpleasant glinted in her pale blue eyes. But the Denobulan had become quite used to such looks and paid her no mind as he graciously offered her the white pieces.

"I had dinner with an ensign." she informed him.

"Oh?" he said as he set up his side of the board.

"Don't you want to know which one?" Astrid questioned.

"It is certainly none of my business." he replied, thinking to himself, "You've been here practically a week. If you haven't caused any trouble by now, it is unlikely that you are going to start." Her presence was no longer the source of incredible anxiety.

"Travis Mayweather." she told him as though he had demanded to know.

Phlox brightened a little and questioned, "Really? Travis? I imagine you had a wonderful discussion with him."

"Indeed. He was just as idealistic and ... progressive as the greenest cadet at the Academy, and just as full of wrong-headed ideas and self-righteousness." she said, shaking her head.

"And I know I wouldn't have him be any other way." said Phlox with a smile. "Now, let's play some chess, Astrid. I must profess to feeling lucky tonight."

"Dream on." she laughed, making her first move.

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