CHAPTER 2: Twas Made in Haste and Under Stress
AUTHOR: MNEMOSYNE
RATING: R, for violence and some language
CATEGORY: Angst, Drama, Romance, Action, Deathfic
CODES: R/S (heavy on the R) with touches of everyone
THREE DAYS EARLIER
"If you keep sending him off on these little supply runs, Jonathan, I'm going to start thinking you're jealous."
Malcolm laughed quietly as he listened to the muffled conversation coming from behind him. His head - and most of his upper body - was stuffed into a storage compartment under one of the bunks of Shuttlepod One, but he could still hear well enough to know that his wife was only joking with the captain. As if he were looking at her, he could picture the twinkle in her eye and the bright white band of her smile.
"You found me out, Hoshi," he heard the captain reply. "I've been madly in love with you since that summer in Brazil. Let's run away together and live like Tarzan and Jane on the first jungle planet we come across."
The bell-like peal of Hoshi's laughter was enough to bring Malcolm out from under the bunk. He sat back on his haunches, rubbing the palms of his hands on the legs of his uniform, and gave his wife and their captain a lopsided grin. "There something going on I should know about, sir?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and giving Hoshi a surreptitious wink.
Captain Jonathan Archer, patriarch of the starship Enterprise, leveled him with a steady gaze. "No, nothing," the captain deadpanned. "What makes you ask, Malcolm?"
"I thought I heard you propositioning my wife, sir, is all."
"Nothing of the kind, lieutenant."
"Ah."
"I was merely making idle conversation."
"I see."
"I assure you, had I been propositioning Hoshi, you'd be the first to know."
"So all that Tarzan and Jane talk was just…chit chat."
"Absolutely."
"Mm-hmm."
"Just expressing an appreciation for the classics, Malcolm."
"And the jungle planet?"
"Color."
"Ah-ha."
Lieutenant Hoshi Sato - known to her friends as Hoshi, to everyone else as Lieutenant Sato, and to Malcolm as the dear and beloved Mrs. Reed - couldn't hold in her laughter any longer, and doubled over as a giggle fit took hold of her. Wrapping an arm around her stomach, she held up a hand in supplication. "C…cut it out!" she squealed, tears of laughter running down her cheeks. "My… my lungs hurt!"
"I've heard steam helps with respiratory problems, Hoshi," Jonathan said, a twinkle in his eye. "Now about that jungle planet…"
Hoshi lashed out and punched the captain in the shoulder, just before slumping to the floor next to Malcolm and leaning her head against her husband's shoulder, still trembling with laughter. "You two are awful!" she exclaimed, beaming between the two of them. "What if someone heard?"
Grinning, Archer held out a hand to help Malcolm and Hoshi to their feet. "I'd have them court-martialed," he said, winking.
"Well damn," a familiar southern twang broke in, and all three inhabitants of the shuttlepod turned towards the hatch. Trip Tucker, ship's engineer, was leaning at ease against the airseal, grinning like an idiot. "And here I thought I had some good blackmail fodder on the Cap. Guess I'll have to keep it under wraps now."
"What are you doing here, Commander?" Malcolm asked as Trip ambled into the shuttle.
"Malcolm, fer Pete's sake, call me TRIP," the amiable engineer said with a grin. "We've been on this ship for three years together. I ain't expectin' any miracles - like, say, seein' you with a five o'clock shadow one of these days - but I'd say swapping nicknames is pretty safe, don't you think?"
"Whatever you say, Commander Trip."
Trip rolled his eyes. "Hopeless."
Hoshi's soft hand rubbed Malcolm's stomach as she asked, "So what ARE you doing here, Trip? Last I heard, you'd already been over the pod's engine with at least ten fine tooth combs and found nothing wrong."
"And you'd have heard right," Trip agreed. "I'm actually here for the cap'n."
"What is it, Trip?" Archer asked, a little puzzled.
"Mayweather's reading an unusual energy pattern a few light years away, Cap," the engineer replied. "Some kind of bioplasma storm. I thought you might want to check it out."
Malcolm saw the familiar light of exploration flare up in the captain's eyes. "A few light years, huh? We're not due to our rendezvous with the She'lac for a couple of days." Archer gave a crisp nod. "We'll take a look. I'm sure T'pol would love the chance to get a close-up look at something like that."
"Her ears did look twitchier than normal, Cap," Trip agreed, eyes twinkling. "If I didn' know better, I'd have said she was actually excited."
Archer chuckled. "Then the decision is made." He turned to Malcolm and smiled. "Good luck, Lieutenant. Fly safely."
Malcolm bobbed his head. "Yes, sir."
With nods to the other two crewmembers, the captain stepped out of the shuttle pod , leaving the three friends alone.
"So, another fetch an' carry mission, huh, Mal?" Trip said, sitting on the bunk and looking around the cramped cabin. "Bet yer gettin' pretty sick of them, huh."
"My feelings on the matter are irrelevant," Malcolm answered crisply, moving slightly away from Hoshi to adjust a gauge on the other side of the shuttle. It was an empty gesture, and he knew they'd read it as such.
"Translated as, Yes, Trip, I'm very sick of them and would like them to stop," Hoshi provided, seating herself next to the engineer.
"But with an added However, it is my duty to do as the captain orders me to do, so I won't say a damned thing," Trip finished.
"Very amusing," Malcolm muttered.
"Malcolm, Jonathan's not only your captain," Hoshi said soothingly. "He's your friend, too. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to find someone else to make these supply runs."
"If you'd like, I can talk to him -" Trip began.
"No!" Malcolm cut in sharply, turning to face the two on the bunk. "Thank you, Trip, for the offer, but it won't be necessary." He sighed and leaned against the internal bulkhead. "The fact of the matter is, yes, I do feel a bit like an errand boy lately, but I don't see that there's any choice in the matter. We can't spare more than one or two crewmembers at a time for missions such as this, and I won't trust the resupplying of this ship to someone who might not be able to defend themselves or their cargo should they come under attack. I'm the clear choice."
"But this time it can wait," Hoshi broke in. "We're due to meet up with the She'lac in two days. I'm sure they'd be willing to give us some spare relays."
"And a thrust propulsion system for torpedo tube 2? And a new power converter for Chef's kitchen?" Malcolm shook his head. "You know the Vulcans as well as all of us, Hoshi. Captain Archer doesn't want to be anymore indebted to them than is absolutely necessary."
"Do you have an argument for EVERYTHING anyone says to you, Malcolm?" Trip asked.
Hoshi chuckled and stood up. "I can answer that for you, Trip," she said, crossing the short distance between herself and her husband. "That's a big, resounding YES." She wrapped her arms around Malcolm's waist, and he slid his arm around her shoulders, kissing the top of her head.
"That's why you love me," he murmured against her hair. "Because I'm too stubborn to be ignored."
"It's one of the reasons," she said softly, a smile on her lips, as she closed her eyes and rested her cheek against his shoulder. "I can think of a few others."
"Aw, man," Trip complained. "Are you two going to start getting all mushy? 'Cuz if you are, you oughta warn me ahead of time so I can make a hasty retreat."
Hoshi laughed. "And here I thought you WANTED Malcolm to be more mushy."
"There's a difference 'tween using first names and gettin' all kissy-kissy, Hoshi." Standing up, the engineer winked at them. "Have fun you two. Try not to do to much with the flight console. Last time someone did that - and I ain't namin' names - the nav controls were making like scrambled eggs for a week." With a chuckle, Trip slipped out through the hatch.
"Do you think he was trying to tell us something?" Malcolm asked with a grin.
"Maybe." Hoshi's eyes sparkled wickedly. "You're not scheduled to take off for three more hours, sailor boy. Make yourself comfortable."
Malcolm grinned, and silently thanked Trip for remembering to close the hatch.