Commander Charles Tucker, Lieutenant Malcolm Reed and Ensign Hoshi Sato all entered their small shuttlepod, two of them laughing as they entered. Trip's face was creased with a frown as he silently fumed.

"It's not funny." he grumbled. His two friends just kept laughing.

"Oh, come on, Trip, you have to admit it was funny." said Malcolm, still grinning.

"No, it's not!"

Hoshi was smiling as well. "It's alright, Commander. Everyone makes mistakes. Just not always like that...." She started to laugh softly again, Malcolm struggling not to join in.

Trip plopped down in the pilot's chair and started pre-flight. "Well, how was I supposed to know that, with a different tone and a slight mispronunciation, 'Thank you for your hospitality, Minister.' could become 'May I marry one of your daughters?'"

At this, both of his friends started to laugh again. "I told you, Trip, that Milani was a very delicate language."

"I didn't know that you mean THAT delicate." he grumbled. He turned his attention to the shuttlepod, which had now finished pre-flight and was ready for take-off. He gently lifted the 'pod off the ground, and set a course for their rendezvous with Enterprise.

Hoshi sat down next to him, in the co-pilot's seat. She was still grinning, but didn't say anything. A few moments were passed in silence, before one of the monitors began to beep at Trip.

"Shit." he commented, checking the data.

"What is it?" asked Hoshi, trying to look over.

"An ion storm." answered the commander, quickly tapping commands into the shipboard computer. "A big one too. Looks like we'll have to go right through it."

Hoshi could see it ahead: a giant, multicoloured cloud formation. Bursts of lightning could be seen from outside the storm. She didn't think that it looked very frightening.

"Bloody hell." muttered Malcolm from the back.

Hoshi was confused. Sure, she had heard of ion storms, but she hadn't taken Spatial Phenomenon at the Academy. "What's so bad about an ion storm?" she asked the two men.

"Ever heard of the S.S. Stormchaser?" Trip asked, without diverting most of his attention from the computer panels. He quickly changed the navigation computer from auto-pilot to manual. He gripped the controls with his hands, and lead the ship in.

Malcolm took over the story as Trip piloted the ship. "The Stormchaser was a cargo ship running out of the Moon. They were on a cargo run when they encountered an ion storm. The Stormchaser tried to go right through it to save time, but since an ion storm is so intense, the ship was torn apart. After that, the United Shippers Company posted a warning to all ships to avoid ion storms."

"Oh." mumbled Hoshi, looking alarmed.

Trip quickly flashed her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry Hosh, they didn't have a pilot like me at the helm."

"That's supposed to be reassuring?" quipped Malcolm.

"Shut up, Mal."

Silence once again reigned, as the Commander piloted the ship through the storm, Malcolm and Hoshi looking on. Only a few bumps here and there were the troublesome things.

Suddenly, the ship rocked when a lightning bolt hit the side of the ship. "Damnnit!" swore Trip as the monitors beeped reporting system failures. "Enterprise is gonna hafta beam us out." he reported to his two companions.

Hoshi turned pale. She hated transporters, a fact that Malcolm and Trip were both aware of.

"It'll be alright, Hoshi." said Malcolm.

She only nodded.

"Alright, Enterprise is gonna take us one at a time. Malcolm first, to make sure it's alright, Hoshi next, then me."

Malcolm scowled at him. "Sure, make me go first." he grumbled. He signalled his readiness and was soon enveloped in a flash of light.

"You're up, Hosh." Trip said.

She looked worriedly at him.

"You'll be fine." he said, smiling again.

She too was then gone, and only Trip remained. "Commander Tucker, ready to beam up." Lights danced across his vision, and the shuttlepod soon dissipated around him, to be replaced by an environment alien to him...