The niggle was back. It reappeared after the Commander and the Captain had disappeared into the ready room. Malcolm knew that something was amiss, and his perectionist nature drove him to find out what.

            "Sub-commander, do you read anything on your monitors?" Malcolm asked T'Pol, who was annoyed for being interrupted.

            "I can detect many things, Lieutenant. However, all readings are nominal. Is there anything specific you want me to look for?" she passively asked. But her words had an edge to them, telling Malcolm to mind his own business.

            "No, I think it's alright," he said. He frowned at his displays, which were refusing to tell him what was wrong. In normal circumstances, he would have been happy to see everything in working order.

            "Ensign Sato," Malcolm continued, "I take it everything is alright for you as well?"

            "Haven't heard anything other than cosmic background noise since the system came back online, Lieutenant," Hoshi replied. She knew Malcolm's moods enough to realise that something was amiss. Apparently, so did T'Pol.

            "Lieutenant, if you feel that something may be wrong, I remind you that you are obliged to report," she duly informed Malcolm.

            "No, Sub-commander. I just wanted to double check. The safety of the ship is after all my responsibility." OK, now give her a slight smile. See! She believed you.

            Turning back to his station, he started to punch out a message to a certain ensign. He knew that something was about. And Hoshi, well, among many of her wonderful qualities, she had a tendency to be very sensitive to these things. She was like a canary in a mine. She could sing like one too, as he had discovered when he was in the Jefferies tubes doing some routine repair. Stop imagining Ensign Sato in the shower! He further reprimanded himself silently with a few curses, and sent his message.

            Then, he left to go back to his armoury.

            Hoshi read the message as it instantaneously appeared.

"Meet me in the armoury at 1900, after Alpha shift finishes for 'target practice'. – Reed"

Hoshi felt like she had been enlisted into a secret organisation. She deleted the message and tried not to think about it for the rest of her shift.

            The corridor curved further, leading Malcolm to the edges of the ship. He was just walking, looking for something to do until he would meet Hoshi. He had already taken a shower. His boots, as always, were immaculate. His hair was perfect, at least in his opinion. He had groomed himself partly as a distraction and partly for Hoshi.

            His stomach gave a loud growl, interrupting his thoughts. He took another corridor.

            By checking off things on his mental list of what could be wrong, he calmed his nerves slightly. But he still automatically hid when he heard voices and footsteps approaching, an automatic but unwanted response. He crouched behind the bulkhead until he could hear the voices more clearly.

            "…Then I was thinkin' that we might…" It's only the Commander, and probably the Captain, he thought, slightly embarrassed at himself. He was about the get up and continue on his way when he heard a few fleeting words from Jon.

            "…Well, setting Hoshi up with him isn't going to be easy…"

Malcolm decided to try to find out more. A slight tinge of jealousy surfaced. By now, he could hear them clearly.

            "I'll go talk to Phlox. See how he can help us."

            "Sure. But make sure that he doesn't propose any of his experiments. Last time…"

            "I remember Trip. Too bad we didn't get any photos of that though!"

            "Remember, I know how to disable this ship!"

            "Don't worry Trip. I'll never tell a soul about it. No-one except you, me and Phlox knows about that. Back to Hoshi and co."

            "Roses. Leave roses at her station. Or better yet, have them beamed over there directly from hydroponics. That way she'll never be able to actually trace us.

            "You do that later. Not to soon. We have to be patient…"

            Their voices drifted off. Malcolm didn't follow them, he didn't want to. He felt as if he had just heard something gobsmacking. He decided that it there was only one thing he could do: protect Hoshi from them. She would help him if roles were reversed. He would tell her, as a friend, and as someone who wanted to be more than a friend. That last part he tried to deny, but he feared that circumstance might get the better of him.

Poor Malcolm. Poor poor Malcolm.