Chapter 5

Disclaimer: See earlier chapters!

****

Jon walked the halls aimlessly, too excited to sleep. He kept telling himself it was because of the new planet, but his hormones disagreed. The dream he once had of T'Pol in decon had returned with a vengeance. He had gone to work out but had come across Lieutenant Reed and Ensign Cutler in a…compromising position. Reed had scurried out of the gym, not meeting Jon's eyes. Cutler had winked as she went by. Jon had been so surprised that he didn't even think of reprimanding her. He had then headed in the direction of the mess hall. He stuck his head in to see if anyone was awake. It was empty, but he decided to get a glass of warm milk. "Milk, warm."

Glancing behind him, he looked out at the stars. His father would be pretty happy for him, exploring new worlds, experiencing things no human ever had. Like Vulcan females…Jon shook his head to clear it again, going back to less disturbing thoughts. He walked over to the window, thinking how much he enjoyed working with this crew, being the first Captain. I am a lucky man. He smiled at the thought.

The mess doors swished open and T'Pol stepped in. She was wearing her blue, silky, very clingy pajamas.

"I am a stupid, stupid man," he said, moving behind the table.

T'Pol arched an eyebrow at him, moving toward the drink dispenser. Picking up the glass, she walked to the table he stood at, standing opposite him.

"You may be impetuous at times, Captain. But I would never refer to you as stupid."

Jon slowly moved around the table, watching her warily.

"Is everything alright, Jonathan?" T'Pol said, handing him his glass of milk. Her hand wrapped around his wrist when he reached out to take the glass, and the milk fell to the floor.

His breath picked up, shocked by her heat, again. Staring at her hand, he followed the arm to her chest.

"Jonathan," she whispered. She moved forward. Jon stepped back, his knees bumping into the seat behind him. He collapsed into it. T'Pol moved in between his legs.

"The milk…" he said pointlessly.

Jon's eyes became focused on the waist of her pajamas. They had slipped down to reveal a peak of her hipbone. She was still holding his hand and she sank to her knees before him.

"Are you having trouble sleeping, Jonathan?"

He watched her mouth, and found himself leaning forward to look closer.

"Yes, a little trouble sleeping, Subcommander."

"T'Pol," she said.

"What?" he said distractedly.

"Call me T'Pol, Jonathan," she said, leaning into him. She brushed her cheek against his, and lightly kissed him. She slowly moved her lips, delicately sliding them down his cheek to his mouth. He melted into her, deepening the kiss. She brought her hands up, to run them into his hair. He groaned, pulling her tighter against him.

"Fascinating."

Jon and T'Pol looked up to find a smiling Dr. Phlox. Jon stood up quickly, knocking over the chair, his face flaming red. T'Pol rose with her usual quiet grace.

"I do not believe a human has ever attempted a relationship with a Vulcan. I know you are physically capable of relations, but very different. Vulcans are generally narrower through the hips than most human women. The size of Captain Archer's appendages indicates a medium to large..."

"Doctor," Jon said pleadingly.

Phlox blinked. "Yes, Captain?"

"Never say anything about my appendages again. That's an order."

Phlox frowned, but nodded.

Jon looked down at T'Pol, who was gazing up at him, almost leaning on him. He was nearly lost again. He stepped away and headed for the door. T'Pol followed.

Phlox said, "Captain? Would it be possible for me to…"

"No," Jon and T'Pol said in unison, walking out the door.

They walked to the lift stepping in, brushing against each other. Jon stepped to the back of the lift, facing her.

"Is there anything I can do to help you sleep?"

She rubbed her hand against her stomach, absently pushing her shirt up.

Jon leaped forward, pulling the shirt back into place.

"No, I think you've done enough," he said as the lift doors opened. He walked quickly to his quarters, entering the code and shutting the door behind him.

Porthos looked up from his pillow.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm still just a man."

Porthos whimpered and sank back down again.

****

The next morning, Jon was preparing for his shift when T'Pol's voice rang out over the comm. "T'Pol to Captain Archer."

Jon eyed the com suspiciously before reaching for the button. "Go ahead."

"We have arrived at our destination. We are receiving hails from the service."

"On my way." All business now, Jon hurried to the bridge. As he stepped out of the lift, he nodded to Hoshi, indicating that she should open the channel. He walked quickly towards the screen. To his surprise, it remained black.

"Audio only, sir," Hoshi explained before nodding her 'go ahead'.

"This is Captain Jonathon Archer of the Starship Enterprise. We are on a mission to explore new worlds and cultures. We were hoping that you might be interested in an exchange of information."

"Welcome, Captain!" A male voice rang out over the bridge. It had a warm, melodious quality that instantly made Jon feel friendly towards these people. Glancing at the smiles around him, he realized that the impression was unanimous. "My name is Larn. We are happy to make your acquaintance. Please allow me to extend an invitation to join us on the surface."

Jon grinned. Few cultures seemed to be pleased to see his ship arrive in their orbit. This is more like it. "Thank you. As soon as I can arrange a landing party, we will depart. If you could just give us the coordinates so that we know where to land…"

"I'm transmitting them now, along with a few other items. I'm afraid we have certain requirements for our visitors—clothing, number of people, and so on. Unfortunately, we are quite strict about them."

"Understood." Seeing that Hoshi was already receiving the data, Jon walked over her console, reading over her shoulder. The information was almost verbatim what T'Pol had given him the day before.

"Well, Larn, I'm looking forward to meeting you. We'll be on our way as soon as we can put together a landing party. I'll contact you when we are ready to depart."

Expecting Hoshi to end the transmission, Jon turned to speak to T'Pol.

Instead, Larn responded in a confusing manner. "Excellent, Captain. But I see no reason for delay—isn't the landing party already prepared? We are eager for your arrival."

Jon paused, still smiling. "Actually, we did have a landing party arranged, but I'm going to be making some last minute changes to it…but how did you know we had something put together?"

Larn laughed. "Captain, there won't be any need to make changes to the landing party. A quick change of clothes and you can come straight away."

Jon stopped smiling when Hoshi and T'Pol stood up from their posts and walked to the lift. "T'Pol? Hoshi?"

Hoshi smiled at Jon. As the lift door closed, she called, "We'll meet you in the shuttlebay, sir."

Jon whirled around to the men on the bridge. From the looks on their faces, they were as confused as him.

"Larn, do you mind telling me what is going on?"

"We have need of you, Captain. But don't worry," he added reassuringly, "it is only temporary. Your crew will be restored to their usual selves after the ceremony."

"Ceremony? Are you telling me you've done something to my crew?" Jon demanded.

"Only some of them…I believe you'll see their names on your landing party list. Your science officer was very thorough. We are extremely impressed with your crew—I believe this will be the most enjoyable Col'Wic we have ever experienced."

Jon rushed to Hoshi's station, leaning down into the comm. "Now you listen to me. There won't be any…Col'Wic and my crew isn't going anywhere until I know what's going on."

"Captain…" Malcolm interrupted. Jon looked at him angrily. "Sir, Shuttlepod Two has just left Enterprise. There are nine life signs aboard." He sighed as he took in the readings. "Eight human, one Vulcan."

Larn chuckled. "I might as well save us all some time. They are the nine females who are wearing our rings, Captain. Now gather the men on the list, dress yourselves appropriately, and come down to the planet. Once the ceremony is over, we will be happy to let you take your crew and go."

"I will not…" Jon stopped when he saw that the transmission had been cut off.

"Sir?" Travis questioned.

Jon leaned over the console for a few minutes, eye closed, thinking. Then he stood and looked at Travis and Malcolm with a sigh. "Malcolm, make the arrangements for the landing party. I want everyone armed. It looks like we're going visiting." ****