Day Five
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"Just for a few minutes!"
"No!" Travis quickened his pace, trying to lose the doctor before they got to the bridge.
"But we're in empty space! We've been flying on a direct course for five days."
"No – it's against every rule in the book. The Captain would never allow it, and I'm not going to ask."
"Ensign please, I'm sure if we just explain things to the Captain –"
"Explain what to me, Travis? Doctor?" Archer appeared behind them, Travis shut his eyes briefly.
"Ah, Captain!" Phlox turned around, pleased to see him. "I have a request to make. Maybe you are not aware but I've been making some solid progress with my piloting skills this week," he started, smiling pleasantly.
Jonathan returned the smile. "Yes, Doctor, I've been keeping track. I'm very impressed at how far you've got in such a short time."
"Thank you, Captain," Phlox nodded. "Then perhaps you will be receptive to my idea. I was suggesting to Ensign Mayweather here that it might be possible to test my new-found skills with something a little bigger than a shuttle pod."
Archer's eyes widened slightly. "You mean Enterprise? Doctor, that's a very ambitious aim, if you don't mind my saying so; you've only been flying a few days," he added, his lips twitching slightly.
"I always endeavour to aim high, Captain," Phlox replied.
"Indeed you do, Doctor," Archer smiled. He paused for a moment. "Well, I suppose this section of space is quite bland, I don't see how why we shouldn't try it." He caught Travis shaking his head in the background. "With the full supervision of Ensign Mayweather of course," he finished, with a look to Travis. "Good luck, Doctor."
"Thank you, Captain!" Phlox called out, as Archer continued towards the bridge. He turned to Travis happily. "You see, Ensign? All we had to do was ask."
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"Hey there, Hoshi!" Trip stopped himself before he bumped into Hoshi as they both were exiting the Mess Hall.
"Hello, Commander," she smiled at him.
"I hope you don't mind me skippin' the last day of the exchange, but I wanted to make sure Engineerin' was in one piece before we got back into populated space again."
"It's absolutely fine, Commander. I think I've had more than enough of Engineering for one week – no offence," she added hastily, "you've been a great teacher, but I still feel more at home with languages."
"Well at least one of us does," Trip smiled. "I don't suppose either of us are about to change career, but you've made this week a pleasure, Hoshi, I wanta thank you for that."
"You're welcome," she said.
"Good Morning, Trip, Morning, Hoshi," Malcolm drew up alongside of them. "Heading for the bridge as well?"
"Thought I might as well check-in with the Cap'n," Trip grinned.
"Duty shift," Hoshi offered. "You too?"
"Yes, though I was hoping to have a word with… ah! There she is!"
Hoshi and Trip looked on in surprise as Malcolm hurried away from them to catch up with T'Pol, walking someway ahead of them. They both disappeared into a turbo lift.
"Thanks for waitin' for us," Trip called out to the closed doors.
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"Good Morning, everyone!" Archer greeted the crew as he stepped onto the bridge. He smiled round congenially then walked to the helm.
He rested a hand on Travis' shoulder, who was stood hovering nervously over Phlox.
"How's it going here?" Jonathan asked, smiling down at the doctor.
"Well, nothing's gone wrong so far, Captain," Travis said tightly, his eyes never leaving Phlox and his precious helm control.
"This is an exhilarating experience for me, Captain, I can't thank you enough for the opportunity!" Phlox grinned, turning round.
Archer smiled down at him. "It's my pleasure, Doctor," he turned back to face the rest of the bridge crew. "I'm pleased to see this little experiment has been so successful. I know some of you were a little sceptical at the beginning of the week, but I think there's very few of you who haven't gained anything from it. I'd like to say well done to everybody.
He smiled round at the crew, some of whom still looked profoundly sceptical. Trip had raised an eyebrow;
"Oh sure, we've all learnt a lot this week – but what exactly have you been doin', Cap'n?"
"I'm sorry?" Archer blinked.
"Well, the way I see it, we've all been puttin' ourselves through hoops tryin' to make this little experiment of yours work. What's your contribution been?"
"Well I…"
"Captain?" T'Pol interrupted as Archer searched for an answer. "Captain, Lieutenant Reed and I would like to speak with you about current security protocols. We've been discussing measures that we believe would improve efficiency and ship safety."
"T'Pol can this wait? I've got to finish the crew reports, and you!" Archer swung round to face Trip. "You I'll talk to later."
"I don't believe it can wait, Captain," T'Pol continued belligerently. "We are about to re-enter populated space and the dangers that represents."
"These are essential modifications, Captain. Ship security must be our number one priority," Malcolm continued from T'Pol.
"Listen to me, Lieutenant," Archer raised his voice a little. "I must say I don't really appreciate the tag-team approach. Now I'm perfectly willing to discuss ship modifications but not when I've already said I don't have time. I can meet with you this afternoon, but – woah!"
Just at that moment the ship took an unearthly jolt and the senior crew stood at the back of the bridge all stumbled sideways. After thirty seconds, the ship settled down again.
Everyone looked towards Phlox.
"What was that, Doctor?" Archer asked, walking forward to his chair.
"Ah… I'm not too certain, Captain," Phlox stuttered, quickly pressing buttons in front of him.
"Doctor, maybe I should take a look," Travis said, coming forward, but as he did so another enormous impact shook the ship, followed by another, then another.
Everyone on the bridge grabbed the nearest bulkhead and tried to get steady. In the midst of the chaos, Archer managed to shout out;
"What's going on, Travis?"
T'Pol had reached her station by this time and was looking down her binocular.
"We've entered an asteroid belt, Captain," she said calmly, although the ship continued to be shaken.
"On screen." Immediately it was apparently obvious that T'Pol was right. Facing them on the view screen were thousands of asteroid rocks, moving an a surprisingly fast rate. They were surrounded. "Polarise the hull plating. Travis!" the Captain shouted, Travis answered with an immediate nod. "Doctor, make way, and brace for impact."
Phlox, looking more than a little shaken, let Travis take the helm as he moved to take refuge by Hoshi's station.
Travis extracted the manual joystick and started to steer the Enterprise by hand. Instantly the impacts lessened. Within five minutes he had steered them clear of the asteroid field and back into smooth space.
Everyone let out an unconscious breath.
"Damage reports," the Captain called out, with a glance to Trip and Malcolm. They got to work.
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Archer paced his cabin angrily.
"Honestly, Trip, have things been this bad all week? I honestly thought this experiment was going well, despite initial objections, but after this morning I think the consequences are coming back to haunt me."
Trip said nothing but laughed a little as he took another sip of beer.
"T'Pol and Malcolm won't be happy until they've re-worked every system on the ship, not to mention their opinions on ship's protocols! I was listening to them for nearly two hours this afternoon on everything that's wrong with Enterprise."
"Engineerin's been short-circuited and set fire to. Half the ship's systems have had to be repaired this week," Trip added, handing another bottle to the captain.
"And now the doctor's nearly destroyed the whole thing!" Archer finished, twisting the top of the beer.
They looked at each other, and then both burst out laughing.
"Thank God it's over then," Trip said between his chuckles. "I don't think Enterprise could take much more."
Archer nodded his head ruefully.
"Maybe you're right - we've put her through enough this last five days. I still think it was a good idea though. You never know when you might need some of the stuff that Hoshi taught you."
Trip shook his head. "You never give up, do you, Cap'n?"
"I've found a little optimism goes well with space travel, Trip."
"Tell that to the Doc," Trip grinned. "I think his optimism's taken quite a bashing this week."
Archer just laughed again.
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"Crew Reports: Skill Rotation Exercise 01: Senior Staff
Commander Charles Tucker III, Chief Engineer
Commander Tucker has been an enthusiastic participator of this exercise, and although I am not sure his exolinguistic skills are, um, greatly improved, I feel that he has benefited from the experience of the past five days. He has worked well with Ensign Sato, and provided her with a well needed confidence boost over her technical skills.
Sub-Commander T'Pol, Science Officer
I must confess that although the Sub-Commander was initially sceptical of the logic of this exchange, I believe that she has come to feel the benefits and has interacted well with Lt. Reed. They seem to have found some common interests not previously explored and I anticipate this exchange of ideas to continue after this week.
Doctor Phlox, Medical Officer
Doctor Phlox was the first crew member to see the potential in the exchange programme I initiated this week, and I was pleased to see his enthusiasm both in his own assignment and with instructing Ensign Mayweather in sickbay. Despite a few… hiccoughs… I believe the doctor has benefited and is now… er, a much better pilot than he was.
Report pause."
Archer stopped pacing and went to get some treats for Porthos, who had been circling round him for the last five minutes.
"There you go, boy," he smiled, giving the dog a pat as he set about eating the treats. "Am I being fair, eh? I'm trying to be diplomatic. I don't think Star Fleet Command need to know Phlox nearly destroyed the ship? Hmm, maybe next time you and I should swap jobs – how'd you like to be the one making all the decisions for a change?"
Porthos barked enthusiastically, as if a turn in the captain's chair appealed to him. Archer smiled.
"Easy for you to say," he murmured. "Computer resume," he called out.
The End – please read&review!!