I've had this lying around for ages. Un-beta-ed.
Chapter 3
Malcolm Reed stood with the rest of the senior staff in the Starfleet briefing room in San Francisco. They were going to have a "buffet brunch", as it had been called in the invitation, with senior Starfleet officials and the Gumyarians.
The Gumyarians had been granted refugee status, the first ever alien species to be granted that on Earth. They would all go to a place south of Alexandria in Egypt, were they could all work and live. With the first permanent resident large group aliens, Starfleet had been exalted as a visionary organisation. Therefore, naturally, Starfleet had taking this opportunity to ask for more funding. This brunch was just another photo opportunity.
Malcolm sighed deeply as he stared out the window into the small garden below him. On a bench, Curgi was sitting. She was reading a novel and seemed to be enjoying the cool breeze. She had turned out to be a very intelligent, far more intelligent than she seemed, but frail person. On the planet, she had collapsed several times, according to the away team. Trip had been helping her to the hospital when they both lost consciousness. Next, they were found in the storage room with the others.
So there had been no romantic interest. Bitterly, Malcolm accepted this. He wanted Trip to deceive Hoshi, to be the infamous womaniser that he was. But Trip was the perfect Southern gentleman.
Behind him he could hear Phlox speak with the Captain about one of his "pets". Phlox had been poking and prodding Malcolm and Hoshi every day after their return from the Gumyarian planet. Everyone was worried that what had happened to almost all of the Gumyarians would happen to them. Malcolm was also worried, but as a bulwark and a confident armoury officer, he never faltered. He kept up the nonchalant appearance as he appeared, as ordered, in sickbay for inspection.
But he struggled throughout his days. When there was no more armoury work to distract him, and he was forced to sleep, he dreamt uneasily. He recall how Commander Tucker, Trip, came faithfully with Hoshi to their appointments. How Hoshi would never look him into the eye. And before he woke, he would remember that night.
He smiled at himself. He didn't worry about disappearing, like many of the Gumyarians had. Hoshi was the one disquieting him. Reed, straighten yourself out. You just had to fall in love with that woman, didn't you? Stupid, stupid, stupid man, he reprimanded himself. If it hadn't been for the crowd behind him, he probably would have started banging his head into the wall.
Hoshi felt extremely nervous. She was standing in her pink dress with Trip outside of his parent's home. Trip sensed her nervousness, and before he reached for the doorbell, gave her a long, passionate kiss. Thank God I'm wearing permanent lipstick, she thought as she leaned in. The kiss warmed her like whiskey.
The kiss ended too abruptly. The door opened, revealing an elderly man clad in a plaid shirt and khakis. Hoshi could detect a faint smell of sandal wood from the jovial man.
"Sorry. Did you kids want me to come back in five minutes?" he joked and extended his hand to Hoshi. Trip laughed heartitly as he hugged the old man.
"Hey dad. Impeccable timing, as usual," Trip said, and he and his father exchanged bemused looks.
"Don't worry Trip, my boy, I won't tell you mother," he turned to Hoshi, "she would mother you to death if she knew that Trip had kissed you."
Hoshi began to feel uncomfortable. The man's smile seemed automatic, falsely genuine. It was like he was playing the role of the kind father expecting a daughter-in-law. Her mind began to drift to Trip's reputation as a ladies man. She wondered how many times Trip brought women to the house. But she didn't have time to idlelly think as a plump house wife appeared.
"Why Charles, ain't you gonna introduce this friend of yours? Sweetie, I'm Charles's mom. You can call me Mrs. Tucker," she said and led Hoshi into open living room. "Now," Mrs. Tucker spoke slower and more exaggerated, "do - you - want - something - to – drink?" The woman's treating me like I'm ignorant, Hoshi sighed to herself.
Trip strode forward, and made an apologetic gesture behind his mother's back.
"Yes, Mrs. Tucker. Some water would be lovely," Hoshi calmly stated, trying to remain passive. The woman in front of her staggered a little, before briskly walking to the kitchen and fetching a glass of water for Hoshi and Trip.
Mr. Tucker started talking with Hoshi, "So, what do you do up there?" His eyes seemed genuinely interested, but Hoshi couldn't help feel that it he was playing his role. Her acute ears could pick up the whisper's behind her.
"Charles, hun, why didn't you tell your ma that she spoke English fluently."
"Ma, she's the linguist onboard the ship, remember?"
"Darlin', you know how these Asian people can be."
"Ma…" Trip said, his voice sounding exasperated. Hoshi pitied him.
But it was obvious how much he enjoyed being home. He was much more relaxed. His usual optimism seemed unshakeable. As the evening pressed on, his parents and him untwined, along with their accents. The richness over their voices warmed her.
She knew that she loved him.
It seemed like nothing could come between them. No parents, no events, nothing.
Hoshi awoke in her hotel room in the basking warmth of the sun. She turned around to find a tossed Trip lying next to her, with his arm around her hips. It was one of those perfect moments. She kissed him lightly on his forehead, before carefully getting up.
She dressed only in her satin robe. Picking up the phone, she quietly ordered room service. The room was still too cold compared to the bed, and she crawled back into the warmth of Trip's embrace and the blankets. After pulling the covers snugly around herself and Trip, she closed her eyes.
"Mmmm…" she heard Trip groan into her back. "Why are you dressed? It's too early to get up," he muttered, still half-asleep.
Hoshi sat up and slid off her robe.
"Better now?" she said seductively.
"Much better." He pulled her close to his body. She revelled in the warmth. They lay there for the rest of the day.
"Cap'n, it's not like I'm asking for the Nile!" Tucker exclaimed.
"Trip, I know, but there are rules…"
"I know about the damned fraternization rules. But you realise that because of them, T'Pol had do recommend that shore leave at Risa?" The captain smiled at the memory. T'Pol's "suggestion" had become infamous, especially since Trip and Malcolm had almost been robbed, a spy trying to get information from the captain, leaving only Hoshi to "relax". And she had set out in the spirit of work! "Cap'n, there are at least a dozen couples out on this ship. And they all have to sneak around because of some lousy rule created by bureaucrats who have never been on a ship like this." For a dramatic touch, he added, "We could be putting the ship in danger, for Pete's sake!" Trip felt that his points had been well made. Much better than when he had made them to the mirror that morning. But then again, Hoshi had distracted him… No, com'on, serious face. Smug grin is not good, he coxed himself. But Jonathan Archer had already spotted the grin.
Jon smiled as he came to a conclusion, "I think that we need to expand certain departments on certain decks. This may mean that some crew might have to share rooms." He tried to stay serious as he continued, "But Trip, nothing until this approved by headquarters."
"Thanks Jon. You won't regret this." He dashed out of the captain's ready room onto the bridge. Jon just sat at his desk, dreading the task that he had before him.
Malcolm looked up from his station as he heard the doors swish. He was expecting the captain to come and talk about his recommendations for the upgrades. Malcolm had recommended installing a new feature that would allow more power to be diverted to the weapons system without needing engineering's intervention. Last time when he had recommended this, Trip had become extremely angry. He was worried that "armoury is going to be hurting my engines." Trip hadn't appreciated Malcolm's remark about Starfleet owning the engines.
Malcolm also had a feeling that Trip had a personal grudge against him. His instincts told him that Hoshi had told Trip about the alternate universe. Nothing had happened, but there was still an uneasy truce between Hoshi and himself, and now Trip.
Trip walked in with a definite spring in his step. Malcolm looked back at his schematics, slightly irked at Tucker's happiness.
Everyone knew about Hoshi and Trip. They were the couple that everyone talked about. How they were the couple that would change the fraternization rules. How cute they were. How Hoshi had been seen leaving Trip's quarters early in the mornings. Malcolm would politely sit through as Cutler or Mayweather would talk about them. He would nod and say the customary "really", raising his eyebrows higher than T'Pol could. Either Hoshi hadn't told anyone else about the alternate universe, or they were just humouring him.
He knew that Trip was exchanging glances with Hoshi. He could see from the corner of his eyes how Mayweather turned around to look at the couple. Good old T'Pol. At least she'll conduct in a manner appropriate to an officer on duty, he bitterly noted. He would never hear the end of it when Mayweather came to diner. Please let there be some emergency in the armoury, he silently prayed. But, with his luck, everything would be running perfectly. Not that it ever wasn't, when he was in charge.
…
two months later
They orbited the M class planet below. The captain had mentioned that this planet was a candidate colonisation planet, one of the few chosen by Starfleet. Devoid of sentient life, it was extremely similar to Earth. A preliminary team had already been sent down, followed by two teams of scientists who were tired of the exploring and just wanted to do some science, not rescue missions.
Some crewmen had proposed that they do some "survival training", while they were at this paradise. Obviously hoping that they would get some shore leave, they hadn't prepared on the Captain or their armoury officer taking this so seriously. While Lieutenant Reed had prepared locations and courses, Captain Archer had, based on Reed's recommendations, complied teams.
So much for shore leave. At least for Reed's team.
Reed's team included the legendary ensign and commander.
…
The last group arrived from the shuttle pod an approached the small camp that, by now, had become a small village.
Standing on a rock in the middle of the hut-like tents was Malcolm Reed.
"Alright. Our team consists of us ten to start out with. We will review the basic principles of being on a foreign planet. Now," he surveyed the group infront of him whom were anticipating their orders, "Today, to ease us into things, we will work on self defence techniques. I have complied a list of pairings." He held up the only PADD allowed down to the surface and started to call out names. "… and Uberstein. Sato and myself. Tucker and …" He heard murmurs of disagreement. "If you don't like your partner, I suggest you take it up with the captain or your partner. I didn't make this list. The captain did."
In fact, he didn't like the list. He had tried to make the captain switch Hoshi for Uberstein. But the captain felt like an older brother towards Hoshi, and wanted her to be with his best. To no avail had Malcolm protested.
He walked up to the ensign as the crowd began to divide into their pairs. Trip's arms were wrapped around her as if he was protecting her from a menacing threat.
"Ensign Sato, I believe I am your partner," he said as he motioned for them to untangle. Tucker walked over to his partner and started to talk and joke, but his gaze kept on coming back to Hoshi and Malcolm. "Alright, everyone grab some pads. We'll start out with some kickboxing. I want you to do a plain front kick into the pad. Like this," he demonstrated by kicking gently into the pad held by Hoshi.
The pairs lined up under the now heavy sun. Malcolm took Hoshi's pad
"One!" Half the team kicked into the pad. Hoshi tried to kick fiercely into the pad, but to her dismay Malcolm remained steady.
"Two!" Malcolm called out. "Make sure that you are kicking with the ball of your feet. And don't lock you knees!" he shouted. Hoshi knew that the comment was directed towards her.
"Three!" Hoshi took a step and jumped into the pad, knocking Malcolm onto the ground. Everyone rushed around to see if he was alright.
"Oh, I'm so sorry sir!" Hoshi exclaimed, but was proud over herself.
"That's how I want you all to be able to kick. But without the jump," he said as he smiled. Hoshi had been slightly taken aback by the smile. She had expected him to be angry, to somehow be reprimanding and instead he was complementing her. "I think I might have injured my back falling on this rock. Ensign Cutler, could you please help me? In the meanwhile, Sato, go with Cutler's partner." He turned his smile to Cutler's partner, "careful, she packs a punch!"
If looks could kill, Hoshi would have been convicted for homicide.
…
"Today the gloves come off." A few whispers could be heard complaining about muscle aches from the training the day before. "We will drop the first two groups off at point A on this map. Take a good look at this map, you might have none later. The second two will be dropped here, at point B. Everyone will be expected to be back within two days. After three, a shuttle pod will hone onto your beacons and you will come back that way. Everyone who stays here, other than monitoring the signals form the beacons, you have the next days off."
The crowd began to busily talk among them selves, as they scrambled to see who was going first. The list read:
Group 1: Simmons, Manzzero; Cutler, Hanzera
Group 2: Tucker, Gonzalez; Sato, Reed
…
"This is the drop location, sir," the crewman dutifully replied. He carefully lowered the shuttle into the clearing. Outside, the tropical trees swayed in the breeze from the shuttle. The group climbed out of the shuttle carefully, unsure of their surroundings. Trip helped Hoshi out and into his arms, as Gonzalez and Reed got out. Reed had removed the gel patch from his back the night before, and his back was still tender. But he would carry out his orders anyway.
Malcolm went through a mental checklist as he motioned for the shuttle to leave. Burned the map, have knives, encrypted PADD… He knew that given the chance, those left behind would use his belongings to their advantage.
"So, which direction, sir," Gonzalaz politely asked. Malcolm looked at the couple embracing before directing his attention to the female crewman.
"We aren't technically on duty. Call me Malcolm."
"Well, Malcolm, where to?"
"The sun at our camp set in this direction." He drew a sketch in the sand. "I think we should therefore go in that direction."
"Alright. Can I have some of this water," she asked, pointing to the small flask she was holding.
"Remember, that has to last," Malcolm reminded her.
"I know. But this damn sun. Let's get moving. Hey! Love-birds! Let's get moving!" Malcolm was impressed at how easily she took command. She had real authority in her voice. Of course she does. She's an armoury officer, he proudly thought to himself.
The four of them started to move into the forest.
"Can you guys hear that?" Hoshi said, after a long day of walking. They all froze, with Lucia Gonzalez and Malcolm Reed taking defensive positions. "It sounds like water." They all started to follow Hoshi as the water called them like sirens. Soon, all of them could hear the waterfall. They carefully approached, unsure of what they would find.
As they peered through the bushes at the water, they could see some sort of deer drinking the water. A swift motion from Malcolm made them all sit down and wait. After what seemed like an eternity, the deer walked calmly into the foliage.
Malcolm led the group to the water. "At least now we know its drinkable," Malcolm declared as he cupped his hands to drink some of the vital liquid. The other followed his movements.
"We shoulda killed that deer for food," Trip pronounced after quenching his thrist.
"Then we too would have died. There was some sort of predator stalking that animal," Malcolm retorted.
"Still, we need food. I could eat a horse!" Trip cried out.
"I told you that you should have had some more diner last night," Hoshi told him.
"Don't start bickering. Lucia, you and I will try to find some food. You two start a fire."
As Malcolm and Lucia left, they could hear Trip say "I know a way to heat things up…"
…
Their diner had been simple. Some fruit which Malcolm had assured them wasn't poisonous; meat; water. Trip and Hoshi had managed to make a small fire. They talked about everything.
"So, Trip, what is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you on one of these training things?" Lucia asked.
"Well, in Australia, there used to be this girl. Joan, I think it was. Well, anyway, I had a crush on her. So I was thrilled when we were paired up together for a space simulation. I mean, I thought this girl was gorgeous. She was smart, funny, really fine. We started going out each night. But she would never invite me to her apartment. After a while I started to wonder if there was some deep dirty secret in there. So one night, I go over there and knock. And this bald guy, or girl shows opens the door. Turns out that Joan was more of a Jake."
They all laughed, all expect Hoshi.
"Are you feeling ok?"
"Yeah, I've just a headache. The fire is a bit too hot for me. I'm gonna go wash off behind the waterfall." They had discovered that there was a cavern behind the waterfall, filled with water to form a small pool.
"I'll come with ya," Trip said, as they walked off. Malcolm and Lucia sat in silence. Soon they could hear the conversation.
"What's amatter Hosh? You really ok?"
"No, Trip. You told that story differently before."
"I may have rounded off the edges."
"No Trip. You lied. And its not the first time."
"What the heck are you talking about?"
"That time you couldn't make it for diner. You weren't working, I saw you with Gina."
"She had had some bad news. Parents wrote to say that her grandpa had died. Isn't a boss supposed to take care of his workers?"
"You forget that I deal with everyone's letters. She hadn't had any for months."
"But…"
"And then there was the first contact with the Tylnises. You had sex with the royal princess!
"How was I supposed to know that once you kissed their hand some strange chemical started controlling you."
"I'm just tired of it all Trip. I'm tired of feeling like another one of your women. It feels like you are only using me for sex!"
"Hoshi, you know better than that!"
"Do I? It's the only thing we ever do since meeting your parents! Maybe we need a break."
"What!?!?!?"
"Trip, my mind and body are completely in love with you. But my heart is just…"
"Now you are the liar. You said you love me."
"I do Trip, I do. But…"
"And I love you. Then there are no buts."
"Trip…"
"Shhh…"
Malcolm and Lucia didn't need to imagine what was happening now. They started a rather forced conversation about what they had done back at Earth.
Soon, they were joined by Trip and Hoshi again.
"I'll take first watch. Then I'll wake Trip. After Trip it's Lucia and then finally Hoshi. Try to get some sleep."
Three of them fell asleep around the fire, leaving Malcolm with his thoughts.
He looked at Hoshi and Trip. Inside of being happy about their misfortune, he found his jealousy turn into pity. He had been infatuated by Hoshi in the alternate universe. But knowing that she didn't love him had killed that. The only thing that had been left was jealousy augmented by her and Trip not speaking with him.
He was going to try to change things. He was going to start anew. He had been trying to before, but this time he would succeed.
Part of him wondered if there was some alternative motive for deciding on this when Trip's and Hoshi's relationship was becoming rapidly unstable.
They continued their trek the next day. The group definitely had an advantage having Malcolm with them. He guided them quickly towars the camp, and shortly after mid day, they could see smoke rising.
"The camp! Well, this was easy," Trip said in a self assured manner.
"This wasn't designined to be too hard, commander," Malcolm retorted. He continued, "As it seems like finding our way back is the most common affliction that happens to away teams, the captain and I felt that this was an appropriate traning simulation."
"So Trip, this how thing was made for you," Hoshi joked.
Trip smiled back at her. "It's not like I get lost that often."
"Only when you aren't busy fixing the engines or getting pregnant!"
"Why you!" Trip tickled Hoshi on her sides, causing her to run up next to Lucia.
Malcolm put his hand up in a motion to stop. In front of tem was a massive rift in the ground. It was too deep for them to climb down and up. But they could probably build a bridge using the massive trees. Now their only problem was uprooting of the trees.
Trip took a look around and went to a tall tree, probably 30 meters high. It was thick and massive, making the perfect bridge. Trip picked up a sharp rock and began to hack at the bottom of it.
"Well, what ya waitin for?" he asked the confused expressions of his team mates.
"Sir, you won't be able to get that tree down that way," replied Lucia for Malcolm. "It's too big. Look, you are hardly making a dent. What if we take thinner trees and tie them together using these liana type things. "
"An excellent suggestion. And since you seem so proficient at this, you direct this undertaking," Malcolm told the crewman.
"Yessir! OK, the men will get study, long thin trees. Me and Hoshi will get these vines and start braiding them together to make them stronger," she instructed.
Have to make a recommendation for promotion, Malcolm noted.
After gathering materials, they began to form a ladder. Hoshi and trip, however, started arguing.
"Trip, don't wrap the vines so tightly. They'll snap."
"Hoshi, I've got a degree in engineering. I think I know what I'm doing."
"Really? Then why haven't you fixed our bed. Why haven't you fixed the shower?"
Malcolm and Lucia sat quietly, trying to stay out of the argument.
"Umm, guys, me and Hosh will get some more stuff…" Trip led Hoshi off into the forest. He was fuming at her. When he was sure that they were completely out of earshot, he let go of his vicelike grip of her arm. "I'm a busy man, Hosh. I have to take care of the entire ship."
"Well, what about us?" Hoshi asked, her eyes filling up with tears.
"We are fine," he calmly said.
"No we aren't, Trip. Not really." Trip looked at her in disbelief, and then began to examine her arms with his hands. "What are you doing," Hoshi asked, her tone becoming angry.
"Hoshi, you might have some sorta bug. We'll talk about the when Phlox has had a look at you."
Hoshi pulled away her arm and looked straight into his eyes.
"No Trip, we are going to talk about this now, or never again."
Their blinking contest went on for several minutes.
"I don't need someone who doesn't love me," Trip said unrelentingly, in a secret last attempt to win her back.
"And I don't need someone who is too in love with his engines to see what's right in front of him. You know what they say Trip," she said mockingly, "Big engine to compensate for what's small down there." Her eyes followed down his stomach to his groin. If this was just a lovers' quarrel, now would have been the point where she would have torn his clothes off. But this was no lovers' quarrel.
"Fine! It's over, Ensign Sato."
Hoshi felt panic grip her. Was this really what she wanted? As small part of her was scared to loose his big, safe arms. His sweet words. His soft touch.
"Trip, can't we just be friends?" she said pleadingly. Trip looked at her and cursed every late night he had spent away from her.
He barely registered his own soft, "Yeah, that would be nice… Com'on Hoshi. I'll be a changed man. I just didn't realise…"
"I know Trip. That's the problem. If you didn't realise this, then what would life be like? We could keep on having these conversations, promising to start again. But getting nowhere."
Trip wanted to say that none of this mattered. But he knew it mattered to Hoshi. He realised that she wasn't his Hoshi anymore.
"We should get back," he said in order to avoid the next pregnant pause.
He turned around at looked at Hoshi, taking in her beauty. It would be the last time he would be able to do this, he realised with depressive resignation.
They both came back to find Lucia and Malcolm fruitlessly attempting to make fire.
"Here, let me try," Trip offered and struck the flint so violently that the small sparks immediately created fire. But Malcolm and Lucia were impressed, but knew better than to say anything.
The dinner was eaten in silence.
…
"Good morning ladies and gentleman. Today, you will be crossing a bridge made by yours truly," Trip announced loudly to the sleeping figures, who instinctively groaned from their uncomfortable sleep.
All, except Malcolm. He had heard Trip rise during the night and begin to build a bridge to cross a ravine. But he had known better than to rise and ask if he could help. Trip needed to work his frustrations off alone, and Malcolm respected that.
They all ate a meagre breakfast in silence. Then, Trip announced that it was time to cross and did without further word. Lucia shrugged her shoulders and followed.
The bridge was about a foot wide, and crossing it required some balance. Trip simply walked across, neither noticing nor caring about the distance down. Lucia resorted to crawling the distance.
Malcolm looked at Hoshi, who was not looking forward to walking across.
"I'll be right behind you," he said softly, and lead her to the edge.
Hoshi turned around and searched his eyes.
"You have always been protecting me, haven't you?" she asked him.
He didn't answer, but instead led her forward.
"One step at a time," he said, and let her take the first step alone.
She wanted to look back to assure herself that he was following, but was afraid of losing her balance. She could hear the wood beneath her whinge with every step. It creaked with Malcolm behind her.
Soon she developed a rhythm. Right foot forward, left foot. Right foot forward, left foot.
Then it went wrong. The wood didn't sound the same. Then there was a large creak.
"Don't worry, you're doing fine," Malcolm said behind her. She tried to ignore the sounds, but the creaking sounded very wrong. Only a few more steps, she reassured herself.
Then there was a large crack. Both she and Malcolm froze. She saw Trip and Lucia scurry to find something to help them make the last distance.
"It's fine," she said to Trip, as both her and Malcolm fell down into the darkness of the abyss.
…
