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Chapter 1"Smile, it makes people suspicious."
Trip laughed out loud at Travis's muttered comment, offering his first genuine smile to their alien photographer. Their Mr'lar guests were awfully camera happy, in his opinion, and coming from him that said a lot. They were only going to be touring the ship for a few hours, but it seemed like forever. For some reason, this particular Mr'lar had latched onto him from the second Jon had introduced them.
Trip had been giving him a tour of Engineering, and every time he turned around, a flash of light went off in his face. He was starting to wonder if camera flashes could cause permanent blindness. Finally, he managed to drag the guy to the mess hall.
As soon as the door opened, he spotted Travis at a table and made a beeline, grateful for any distraction. Travis saw him coming, eyes widening, and practically leaped to his feet. He tried to dump his dishes and slip past Trip and his guest.
Trip caught him midstride, throwing his arm around Travis's shoulders and turning him back around to walk with him. "Travis! I'm glad I caught you, buddy. Have you met our new friend Jec?"
Travis's look of defeat lasted only a millisecond before he turned on his usual charm. "It's a pleasure to meet you," he said with a broad smile. His reward was a flash of light. He and Trip stood blinking for a moment.
"Greetings," Jec said in a high-pitched, whiny voice. The excess folds of pinkish skin around his face quivered damply. Trip swallowed and pointedly looked away, making a mental note to avoid jello—for the rest of his life.
"We were just about to have some lunch, Travis. Join us." The tone of his voice made it clear that it was not a request. He hadn't removed his arm from Travis's shoulder, just in case the Ensign tried to bolt. Clearly, Travis had seen enough of their guests to know that he didn't want to see anymore.
"Wait," Jec wheedled, holding up his camera. "May I?"
Oh, well, how nice o' you to ask, Trip thought darkly. Outwardly, he smiled tightly and said, "Of course."
That was when Travis uttered his little comment, making him laugh. Indeed, after his vision cleared again, Trip saw that Jec was looking at them a bit suspiciously.
"Ever had potato soup?" he asked Jec quickly. He gestured for the Mr'lar to precede them to the food dispensaries. He took one step after Jec, only to notice Travis was missing. He caught the Ensign's arm just as he reached the mess hall door. "Nice try," he said threateningly. And plastered on his host smile again while he dragged Travis back inside.
***
"THANK GOD," Trip said loudly, slumping against the wall outside the launch bay. Their visitors had just departed, cameras flashing all the while.
Jon smiled at his friend's dramatics. "Trip, it wasn't that bad. The Mr'lar are an interesting culture. Their advances in medical science might prove to be invaluable." They began walking down the corridor.
"Maybe so," Trip countered. "But I've never been so happy to see the leavin' side of anybody."
Jon grinned and opened his mouth, but Trip interrupted him. "I know what you're gonna say. An' it's easy for you to think it wasn't that bad. You didn't have a personal fan like I did."
"No. But some of the other crewmembers did get their attention."
"Well, I'm jus' glad it's over. T'Pol and Malcolm'll never know how lucky they were, bein' able to hide out in decon." Trip stopped as they came to a divide in the corridor that led to Engineering. "I'll see you tonight at dinner." He hurried gratefully back to his Warp Core, easily forgetting the Mr'lar.
***
Hours later, he was frowning at a console, running some figures over and over. For some reason, he couldn't get them to add up. It was strange; it was a simple equation, and he had never had any problem with this particular task.
"Archer to Tucker."
"Go ahead, Cap'n," he said, still punching numbers.
"You still planning to join us for dinner, Trip?"
The question pulled Trip, however grudgingly, out of his fog. He stood up straight. "Oh, umm, yeah, sorry 'bout that. Got kinda buried in my work. I'm on my way now."
"Fine, we'll see you in a few minutes. Archer out."
Trip stepped back from his console, trying to physically shake the cobwebs out of his brain.
"Are you all right, sir?" He found Lieutenant Hess standing at his elbow, looking concerned.
"Yeah…yeah, I'm fine. Just headin' out for dinner. Could you…?"
He trailed off. Hess was already at his console, punching in numbers. "I can finish this up for you, sir….there." She smiled at him and walked away.
Trip leaned in to the console. Sure enough, she had finished it in about five seconds. He had been staring at the damn thing for twenty minutes, getting no closer to figuring it out. He was truly annoyed with himself, but pushed it back, reminding himself that he was lucky to have such capable people under his command.
Feeling better, he took off for Jon's dining room.
