Okay, I wasn't very fond of 'Cogenitor', it was just… iffy. BUT I thought of this. Hope y'all like it J

Taking place sometime between "Cogenitor" and "First Flight" I guess. And oh yeah, spoilers for 'Cogenitor'

^*^*Chapter One*^*^

"Doesn't this get rather boring to you?" Lieutenant Malcolm Reed brought up. "We do this all the time… sit around, watch the aliens eat, watch them watch us eat…"

"Lieutenant, I've never known you to be so negative…" Ensign Travis Mayweather kidded and gave him a silly grin. He dug his fork into his food as Reed looked around annoyed, sipping from his mug. Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker III kept his eyes on his plate, chewing patiently without a word. He hadn't said a word since they entered through the mess hall doors. "…especially after the little encounter with that woman last month."

Reed scoffed and shook his head at the implication. He looked around the room at the Drendarins and paused at every woman he came across. They were a pleasant race but very talkative. The women seemed to stay quiet but apparently not due to an authority issue. As a matter of fact, the women strangely seemed to be served by the men while the men also did the talking. What was also interesting was nearly all the women were a head taller than all the men. That's what caught the lieutenant's eye the most.

"Look at all the men… they're so… diminutive," Reed said. Travis tried to keep from laughing as he looked at the commander's grin. Trip looked over at the table Captain Jonathan Archer and the head Drendarins were seated. The captain of their ship was named Kemparu, and only looked 150 centimeters tall. His second in command, Jivan, sat next to him, pouring a woman named Aneorm a glass of water. Her hair was a gold yellow, partly tied back away from her face, yet in different lights it would shimmer silky shades of red and bronze. She wore a dark blue formal gown, yet it looked fit for someone in a military, with the silver notches spread diagonally across her chest. The other Drendarins had them too, but in different sequences and he didn't know where she fit in. While Archer, T'Pol, Kemparu, and Jivan talked amongst each other, Doctor Phlox kept asking anxious questions to Aneorm and no one else. She didn't say much but was pleased to answer him, and frequently smiled. She was pleasing to look at to Trip, and he found himself looking at her often. He then cleared his throat and stared into his mutilated food once again.

"By the way, Lieutenant, what ever happened between you and… what was her name?" Travis provoked. Malcolm sighed with a wry smile and tried to ignore it. Trip and Travis exchanged grins at each other then Trip glanced over at where the captain was sitting. In a break in the conversation between the two captains, Archer met Trip's gaze. Archer was no longer concerned about the incident a few weeks back, for he felt he had bitterly learned his lesson. But Trip was still concerned he would do something wrong. Archer looked away from Trip in response to the Drendarin captain. Trip sighed. He wanted things to be back to normal, talking naturally and curiously with new encounters. He felt he should stay out of the way for the time being, and make minimal contact with the aliens as much as possible. As he glimpsed across their table, he unexpectedly caught Aneorm's eye. She smiled at him subtly and he politely returned the smile. She really was beautiful and he would normally talk her ear off, but instead just got up out of his seat along with the lieutenant and ensign.

Malcolm and Travis began to mingle with some Drendarins nearby while Trip glanced back at Aneorm as he exited the mess hall. Her face was straight as an arrow yet her eyes gazed into his curiously. It made him uneasy and averted his eyes from her, simply giving her a polite nod, and exited nearly unnoticed by everyone else in the room.

^*^*^*^*^

The next day, Trip worked steadily in engineering. It was rather boring to him, for all they did was orbit the Drendarin home world.

"Rostov, give me a hand with this coupling, will ya?" he asked. Rostov lifted his head from the PADD he was examining.

"I already fixed that, Sir," the ensign replied and immediately looked down at the PADD again. Trip gaped at him, puzzled, but didn't say anything. He examined the coupling a second time. Sure enough, it was fine.

Damn it he thought, standing up straight, and mumbled to himself. "Ain't there anythin' to do around here?"

"I'm sure something will come up, Sir," Rostov assured, distracted. He walked up to his commander and handed him the PADD. "I'm on break. I'll be back in an hour." Trip watched as the ensign hurried out of the room. As the doors closed, he looked around at the other scattered crewmen, and sighed. It's gonna be a long day, he thought and rubbed his eyes.

"A very interesting contraption, Commander," he heard a voice and spun around surprised. Aneorm stood, hands behind her back, staring up into the bright lights of the warp core. She wore a dark green suit this time, in slacks, with the same silver notches, but her hair was let free.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear ya come in," Trip said apologetically and cleared his throat.

"It's alright, Commander. I should have made myself more apparent," she said with a smile. Trip smiled back, uncomfortably, not sure of what to say. As she stepped closer, her hair turned a copper red under the warp core lights. "You're warp core is far more complex than on one of our ships."

"Yeah, well…" Trip tried to think of something clever to say as she gazed up into the swirling colors.

"Are you uncomfortable speaking to me, Commander?" she asked suddenly. He paused, staring at her eyes. He had noticed they were a dark green, darker than what he had ever seen. She blinked and looked at him for a reply.

"No," Trip finally said. "I'm just not used to new people comin' in here… unless they're given a tour by the cap'n or something." He gave her a nervous smile, feeling dense.

"Well, I don't think I've interrupted anything," she presumed.

"Well, not really… how could ya tell?" he asked. Her smile grew and she stared back into the core.

"I could tell you weren't exactly occupied when I came in," she said. Trip shook his head. She was right.

"It's been a long mornin', Ma'am," he breathed and found himself following her across the floor towards the exit. But not long enough.

"There's a reason you avoid us, Commander," she stated, catching him by surprise.

"I… I haven't been avoidin' ya," he tried to deny but it didn't fool this person for a strange reason. She stood still and looked up at him with a mysterious grin, eying his hair.

"It's been a long time since I've seen a man taller than I," she said and stepped closer. "Drendarin men… well… you can see." He chuckled and began to relax. 

"Why is that, anyway?" he found himself asking.

"Why what?"

"What do the men on your planet do?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well…" Trip paused and thought for a second. No can't go there, he told himself. There were so many questions but he had forgotten. "…that's okay. Nevermind." His smile went away and he disappointedly stared back into the swirling lights of the warp core.

"No, its not," she said. He looked at her perplexed. "You're curious… and you have every right to be." He swallowed.

"I'm sorry. I guess I just…" he began and took a frustrated breath. It wasn't really anything to talk about and he decided to leave it at that.  Before he could make up something to finish his thought, she gently grabbed his elbow with that same mysterious smile.

"Our men may seem to serve us, Commander, as well as rule our world, which might be confusing…" she began and started to walk him closer to the exit. "…but it's a long story…" She opened the exit door and Trip nervously realized he was stepping away from his post. "…and I'm sure we have time."

"Uh… I'm sorry, but I still have work to do," he said and tried to pull away, keeping his eyes on the engine. She held onto his elbow tight and made sure she had eye contact with him.

"I'm sure you can spare some time during your… busy… schedule," she said and stepped out the door. "You haven't even had lunch yet." She waited patiently for him to decide. His mouth wide open, not sure what to say, he looked at the room. There were enough crewmen around and there were little chance of an emergency any time soon. He really wasn't busy but didn't want to risk anything with the young woman. Might as well get the hell outta here. He looked at her sheepishly where she unwaveringly stood.

"No, I haven't had lunch yet," he revealed and sighed. He stepped out of the room and closed the door behind them. "Shall we?" He gave her his usual charming smile and held his hand out in front of them. She nodded her head but before she could sling her arm around his in the old-fashioned manner, he dropped his arms behind his back, and held his hands together. It was an awkward moment, but only a moment. Instead, she simply held her hand gently on his elbow once again.

"Now… you were wondering about the purpose of our men…?" she said and he nodded his head as they walked to the mess hall.

To Be Continued…