^*^*^*CHAPTER 4*^*^*^
The mess hall.
Trip only had a few more hours' worth of work to do on the warp core after lunch, and then they'd be dropping the Veekicians off in a matter of hours.
*Food.* is all that seemed go through his head as he entered. He examined the room - at least four of the seven Veekicians were present, socializing with Enterprise crewmembers. Not recognizing Tisk'rar, he sighed in relief and spotted Lieutenant Reed already in line.
"Hello, Malcolm" he came up from behind him with a big grin and gazed at the food like a kid with his face smashed up against a window of a candy store.
"Oh, hello, Commander" Reed replied "How's life been to you?"
*Exhausting, stressful, tormenting, the usual stuff* Trip tried to think of the right words to say but just went with what the lieutenant wanted to hear, "Couldn't be better to me, lieutenant" he forced a smirk. They eventually got their lunch and picked the table where Hoshi was sitting.
Seconds after they sat down, Trip started devouring his food while the others made conversation.
"Just little under twenty-four hours and they'll be out of here" Reed said relieved. Trip noticed they were talking about the Veekicians and he didn't want to hear it. He chewed his food harder and faster, trying to muddle what he heard them saying, wanting to get back to work soon.
"So, Commander... have you heard from home lately?" Reed interrupted Trip's meal. He was glad the lieutenant changed the subject, finished chewing his mouthful and swallowed. But before he could answer someone grabbed his shoulder.
"Commander Tucker... the engineer?" the deep voice said as Trip, startled, looked up. Tisk'rar. He swallowed again. The giant was grinning.
"I guess we won't be seeing each other for awhile after tomorrow, eh?" he grumbled, his natural voice. Then he chuckled as he noticed the engineer's discomfort. "I hope that you won't hold yesterday's incident against my people?"
*What the hell?* Trip thought. Was he apologizing or what?
"Uh... well... no... Not exactly..." he could only think of what to say. Trip began to sweat again. What was Tisk'rar proposing anyway?
"I tend to lose my temper more than most of my people and I hope you will mot hold anything against them..." Tisk'rar said grinning, his grey teeth shimmering. Trip seemed a little more at ease at Tisk'rar's sincerity. But something was unsettling about it to Trip but he couldn't help but be sincere as well. Trip forced a grin and cleared his throat.
"Uh... no hard feelin's. It was all a misunderstandin' "he said. Tisk'rar's smile enlarged as he held out his hand. Trip hesitantly took the hand.
*Whoa... that's a mighty fine grip!* Trip thought, wincing as the giant shook his hand.
"Thank you, Commander" the Veekician said letting go and slammed his hand on Trip's back. That hurt a little too.
"No problem..." Trip rubbed his nearly crushed hand with the other and stretched out his back. Tisk'rar left the room and two more Veekicians followed.
"Well, that was unexpected." Reed pointed out "...just yesterday he was ready to tear you limb to limb"
"The Veekicians can really surprise me at times. One minute they're growling, knocking down furniture at the captain's feet, and the next they're laughing and wrapping him in a bear hug" Hoshi smiled.
"... or growling at him for 'insulting' their eating habits, then laughing hysterically at any chicken-crossing-the-road joke he thinks of" Reed nodded his head towards the captain's mess as they heard bellowing laughs from inside. "They've been in there for an hour now"
"The cap'n's tellin' chicken jokes?" Trip said confused
"Yes, the captain had the chef bring in some wine and so they could compliment him on the food they like so much. All I heard was the old 'because he had to...'" Trip only heard the rest of the joke muffled while he was hurriedly chewing his food again.
"That's not very funny." Hoshi smirked.
"No, its not. The captain doesn't even find them funny, either. But the Veekicians apparently find them amusing. Poor captain Archer."
Hoshi and Reed couldnt keep it in and chuckled.
"Do they even know what a chicken is?" Trip asked, confused. He didn't find it as humorous as the others and it confused him even more that he usually would find something like that amusing. But not right now. Tisk'rar had bewildered him enough.
Before any of them could reply, the door to the captain's mess opened and the Veekician second in charge was bellowing in laughter, patting the chef on the back who didn't look at ease. As he complimented the chef for his excellent food, Captain Archer was speaking with their captain. One other Veekician followed their footsteps behind.
Trip, Reed, and Hoshi watched as Captain Archer ushered them out the door. Archer rolled his eyes and looked at his senior officers. They couldn't help but grin at him, including Trip. So he let out a draining sigh and hesitantly walked out.
"Glad that's not my job" Reed chuckled, sipping his coffee. As they finished their meals, Hoshi and Reed had their own discussion while Trip was gathered in his own thoughts.
All different questions he thought of boggled his mind. Why all the sudden was Tisk'rar so diplomatic? Would his 'mood swings' pose a threat at any time? Should he be worrying at all when everything seemed to be fine? The Veekicians really were peaceful and humble. Trip then decided to convince himself not to be bothered so much, because he felt there really wasn't anything to worry about.
"Commander? Are you alright?" Reed said concerned. "You haven't said anything in the past five minutes. That's not like you"
"You have seemed kind of down lately" Hoshi agreed.
Trip looked up at his fellow officers and saw the concern in their eyes. He didn't want to worry them.
"I've just been thinkin' a lot, tha's all" Trip noticed the crook of the lieutenant's eyebrow and could tell his friend knew there was more to it.
"You're not still fretting about the incident with Tisk'rar yesterday, are you?" Malcolm scoffed "The man apologized, you know?" Trip glared at Reed.
"I'm fine, ya guys. I've been workin' real hard lately. I didn't get much sleep last night. I'm just a little tired" Trip picked up his plate and put it away. "Now, if you'll excuse me..." he forced a smile and headed out the door "The sooner I get my work done, the sooner we can all have these damn environmental controls back to normal" he tugged at his collar and rubbed his forehead, the door closed behind him.
"Do you really think there's something troubling him?" Reed looked at Hoshi. She paused for a moment, thinking hard, and shook her head.
"I'm not sure. Except there was something that sort of... spooked him ... last night" she picked up her plate and stood up. Reed looked at his coffee mug, puzzled. He was undoubtedly curious.
"Spooked? Spooked by what?"
~TO BE CONTINUED…
