REVELATION & VISITATION
~Brig~
Tucker knew it would be best to remain silent until he saw the Captain on his own. It disturbed him that his lack of control had generated so much trouble for his friend. Currently the Enterprise had two cells for the brig. Tucker decided he would at least separate the men for the night instead of confine them together.
"Major, take your pick," said Tucker.
"Cozy." Hayes merely smirked arrogantly and entered the first cell. He immediately began stripping out of his shirt and began to do calisthenics.
Tucker could see Reed rolling his eyes before he walked to the next cell. The engineer followed him inside.
"You're supposed to remain on the other side, Commander," said Reed tightly.
"Malcolm, you know I'm the one who deserved to get sent to the brig--Damn it, I'll fix this! I just wanted to help--"
"I don't need your help."
The phrase echoed for Tucker as he remembered saying the same thing to Reed. "Look, Malcolm, you don't have to do that stiff upper lip--"
"I'm not. I don't need your help with Major Hayes; I've dealt with such people all my life. Furthermore, it's evident that you can't trust your self-control anymore. I'd be more concerned over that."
Reed released a sigh as he realized he was taking his bad mood out on his friend, but offering Trip compassion certainly had done no good. "Your actions affect others, Trip. This time it was just a blunder in a non-critical situation. What happens next time?"
Tucker couldn't meet Reed's direct gaze.
~~~~~
~Enterprise Corridor~
Hoshi Sato walked stiffly beside Captain Archer. The one good thing, she told herself, was that at least she'd be able to say good night to Malcolm.
"If you walk back right now to McKenzie and apologize, you can avoid the brig." Archer thought he'd give the Ensign a chance to redeem herself.
"No, sir, it would be dishonest. I acted deliberately."
"Hoshi, what got into you?" Archer stopped walking and turned to face her. He finally noticed her haircut. "And what did you do to your hair?"
"My new look is courtesy of Porthos, Captain."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean you've neglected him so much lately that he gets too playful when someone finally gives him some attention. He bit the cap off the flame retardant in my cabin and this is the result. I've been told it looks quite fetching."
The way Hoshi said the last word made Archer realize why she was at movie night. Hoshi--and Malcolm? Together? What else had he been missing?
"I'm sorry about your hair. I'll see that Porthos is--"
"What were you doing while I was watching him for you?"
"I was busy--I had things to--" Archer stopped as he realized he had merely wanted his pet's whining to stop. He was reviewing an obscure database for any hint of information about an encounter with the Xindi. "Look, I need every spare moment I have to find out more about the Xindi."
"Jon, listen to yourself. If you can't even see that your dog needs you, how are you going to see that your crew needs you, too?" Hoshi's disappointment was clearly in her voice. "Now you can add insubordination to the reasons I'm going to the brig, sir."
They walked on in silence for a moment.
"I'm sorry about Porthos. Your hair looks fine."
"I'm sorry I embarrassed the crew with my stunt. I'll apologize to McKenzie tomorrow, but I'm still going to the brig tonight."
Archer nodded.
~~~~~
~Brig~
As they approached the cells, Archer could hear Hayes counting off push-ups from his cell as Tucker was leaving the other one that contained Reed.
"Hoshi?" asked Tucker in surprise.
"Ensign Sato is confined to the brig tonight, Commander. See to it," said Archer before he abruptly left.
Trip registered the look of wonder that passed across Malcolm's face as he gazed at Hoshi. The Ensign offered the Lieutenant a tentative smile. "Hi, Malcolm."
"What did you do?" asked Trip.
"Ahem, you could say I promoted McKenzie to the rank of kernel."
"You didn't? The popcorn?" asked Malcolm incredulously.
"Popcorn? You wasted that prime bag of popcorn?"
"She insulted the Enterprise crew--and she shoved me. You know I hate that," said Hoshi.
Malcolm could only nod. He assumed he'd be moved in with the grunt next door, but Trip surprised them both.
"Well, Malcolm, I know yOU said not to help, but I think this time, you're just stuck with it." Trip turned to Hoshi and said, "If you don't mind, we'll just keep the Starfleet officers together this time."
Hoshi smiled at Malcolm's look of disbelief and quickly entered the cell before he could protest. It wasn't a date made in heaven, but it was far from being in hell.
-----
The two cells of the brig were situated side by side and shared a solid wall. The front of each cell held a force field to contain the prisoners. Reed and Sato could hear Hayes grunting as he exercised next door.
"Is he for real?" asked Hoshi.
"Believe me, I grew up with worse," said Malcolm with a sigh. He ran a hand through his hair and said, "But people like Hayes don't change."
"You have," said Hoshi as she approached Malcolm with her hands behind her back. She continued once she faced him.
"And I thought you were just as much of a stiff necked... "
Hoshi flicked Malcolm's collar gently with her hand.
"...rigid, unbending, by-the-book man..."
Hoshi ran her hand along Malcolm's shoulder to his elbow.
"...who detested weakness, fear, and was completely untouchable."
Hoshi clasped Malcolm's hand in hers and brought their hands in front of them.
"But you learned to bend, you helped us overcome our fears, and I don't find you untouchable any more."
Malcolm's eyes were bright as he considered Hoshi's words. He knew his similarities with Hayes, but the comparison made him see things in himself that he had never liked. Yet here was Hoshi telling him that the man she saw was the one he wanted to be. He smiled at her gently and touched her face.
"This isn't what I wanted our night to be like, Hoshi, but maybe it's for the best."
Hoshi nodded. "It seems a bad time to start another new adventure."
She looked away from Malcolm for a moment knowing that she had to find just the right thing to say. "You can't end something that never began."
"Then why does it hurt?" asked Malcolm plaintively.
"Because it's something that wants to begin. And maybe what we should do is just leave the seed planted and wait for the time when we can nurture this."
"Will we ever have that time?"
Hoshi finally looked into Malcolm's eyes again. "I promise you that I will survive, Malcolm Reed. Will you do the same for me?"
"Yes, it will help if I can believe that at the end of this mission we can find our beginning."
Malcolm brought Hoshi's hand to his lips and gave it a soft kiss. She smiled but didn't let go of his hand. Malcolm quirked an eyebrow. "Isn't this the part where you're supposed to let go of my hand?"
She merely led him to sit on the bottom bunk that occupied the cell. "No, this is the part where we finally spend some time relaxing."
"Holding hands?" asked Malcolm as he settled beside Hoshi.
"At least I'll know where they are," said Hoshi slyly.
"Good point," admitted Malcolm. What had he gotten himself into with this woman? Still, Malcolm found himself confiding in her. "I need to find a way to keep the MACOs from spooking our crew. In fact, they need to see themselves as part of the Enterprise."
Hoshi smiled as she said, "Jon had to work at getting some people to fit in, didn't he? And we were all Starfleet to begin with."
Malcolm nodded saying, "I'm beginning to appreciate the Captain's efforts, but he's been too preoccupied with the Xindi to deal with the MACOs. So that leaves it to me to find some way to ease the tension among the crew. I'm ultimately in charge of security for the ship."
"I refuse to find out their favorite foods--although I'm sure McKenzie won't like popcorn any time soon."
"And here I thought you'd do anything for a friend," said Malcolm with mock disappointment.
"I am your friend otherwise I would say you could get marooned on a shuttle with them--"
"Or on a Klingon ship," offered Malcolm as he remembered his eye-opening adventure with Hoshi.
"I love photon torpedoes," said Hoshi with a sigh. "Yes, that would do it."
"Yes, it would, wouldn't it? You just gave me an idea."
"You're going to maroon the MACOs on a Klingon ship? Or fire photon torpedoes at them?"
"Neither, but we will play a little game of war. Now if I can just talk to Hayes."
"The grunting next door has stopped. Too bad you can't just walk over and talk to him." Hoshi slumped against the wall as she sat on the bunk.
"Oh, but I can," said Malcolm with a smirk.
-----
They heard someone approaching before Hoshi could ask what he meant. She recognized that voice immediately.
"Major Hayes?"
"Mac, what are you doing here?" they could hear Major Hayes ask.
McKenzie looked at Major Hayes and brought herself to attention. The man had stripped out of his shirt and his body had a fine sheen of perspiration that could not be hidden by the tank top he still wore.
Mac ignored her racing heart as she had been doing for the past year and answered calmly, "Sir, Captain Archer gave me permission to see if you needed anything brought to you from your quarters."
"I don't need anything, but--what the hell happened to your hair?"
"Uhm, I--" McKenzie touched the damp hair framing her face. She hadn't bothered pulling it back yet.
"I did."
Both McKenzie and Hayes turned their heads to the adjacent cell when they heard Hoshi Sato's voice.
"You can't imagine what I had to do to get that stuff out of my hair," said McKenzie as she glared at the neighboring cell.
"At least you didn't have to cut yours," grumbled Sato but not backing down. Sato and Reed stepped out of their cell and moved to stand in front of their counterparts.
Hoshi stepped toward McKenzie and whispered, "Your hair looks fine; you didn't miss anything."
"What's the meaning of this, Lieutenant? There's supposed to be a force field to contain these cells." Hayes looked at Reed suspiciously.
"I know; I created them, Major," said Reed, then continued, "so of course I have my own remote deactivation."
Reed flashed the palm-sized transmitter to Hayes.
"What kind of security do you have on this ship, Lieutenant?"
"It's a failsafe in case the ship is boarded and our facilities are used against us. We've learned from experience."
"Your being confined to the brig is nothing but a joke!"
"No, it's not a joke, it simply means my Captain trusts me. He knows I won't violate my confinement."
"Then why are you walking out?"
"I'm not walking out, Major. I'm walking over to speak with you." Reed walked into the cell with Hayes and activated the force field again. "If that makes you feel more comfortable, we can leave it on."
Hayes was shrugging back into his shirt. He turned to McKenzie and said, "Dismissed," before following Reed to stand in the far corner of the cell to talk.
-----
"You're jealous, aren't you?" asked Sato quietly as she watched McKenzie deflate as soon as Hayes had turned his back. The Ensign turned and walked toward the other cell. She wasn't surprised when McKenzie followed her as she stepped inside.
"What? Of course not. Why would I be jealous of you? Major Hayes won't get involved with a--."
"A woman under his command. I know it by heart, but I wasn't suggesting you thought I was after Hayes." Sato looked away from McKenzie and said, "Hayes and Reed are very similar, but there's one big difference. Malcolm has learned how to bend."
"Well, I'm not after the Major, either, and I don't want him to bend any rules against fraternization."
Hoshi merely quirked an eyebrow as elegantly as T'Pol ever did.
"I just admire Major Hayes and think he deserves a lot more respect than he's getting from this crew."
"Maybe he needs to learn to see us as people and not just the nameless crew. It seems that you MACOs have been spending so much time on group cohesion that you're turning everything into us versus them."
"We know we're on the same side," said McKenzie insistently.
"But you don't act like it," responded Sato. "It took all of us time to learn to work together on Enterprise. We didn't become a crew just by constantly training with each other. We couldn't just stay in the world created by our assigned department. We had to learn to ask for help. And to give it even when the help wasn't appreciated. We had to learn to reach out."
"So now everything's all warm fuzzies with you people?" said McKenzie somewhat sarcastically.
"No, no one is living in a perfect world, but at least I'll know who I'm dying for--and who I want to live for."
-----
"You don't think she'll kill her?" was the first question Hayes asked Reed with a jerk of his head to the wall separating the cells.
"No, Hoshi's had her fun for the night. McKenzie should be safe," assured Reed.
"That wasn't what I meant," said Hayes.
"It should have been," said Reed.
Hayes was surprised by Reed's tone, but decided to get to the point. "What was the purpose of this discussion, Lieutenant?"
"The purpose is to reach some accord concerning your training exercises."
"Surveillance is a skill that needs constant development."
"I understand, but selecting random targets from the crew of the Enterprise is just making everyone paranoid. I don't need my officers getting any jumpier out here."
"It'll toughen them up."
"No, the stalking just makes them more anxious."
"I'm not going to let my team lose their skills while we wait for the action. I refuse to coddle this crew."
Reed immediately understood the recent edginess of the MACOs. All this time they were ready for action, but nothing had happened. They were intent on creating their own.
"In a real deployment it is unlikely that you would focus on random targets, Major. In fact, aren't you likely to devise strategies against those who will be expecting the attack?"
Hayes stood back for a moment. "Keeping my team busy helps them gain confidence. We don't intend to let Earth down. I will not stop the training exercises."
"I'm not suggesting you do. I am suggesting you limit your tactics against my trained security personnel. THEY will offer you a challenge and it would benefit both the Starfleet officers and you MACOs."
Hayes considered this for a moment. It would offer a challenge to test the skills against each other. "War games? How many targets?"
"I'll clear the details with the Captain, but we can expand the list to about thirty potential targets. To my security details I can add the crew that has the most field experience, the best marksmanship, the type of background that would test your skills."
"I would expect you to include yourself on that list, Lieutenant," said Hayes with a grim smile.
Reed nodded, "Yes, I would be on the list. So would Ensign Mayweather, Ensign Sato, and Doctor Phlox. But you leave three eligible people out of this surveillance."
"The Captain." Reed nodded. Hayes thought for a moment, "Who else would be exempt?"
"Commander Tucker and T'Pol."
"Come on, Tucker is the First Officer--"
"And has enough duties to attend to without adding this to his list. Besides, he could help the Captain evaluate the success of these war games. Or are you worried your team won't fare well against us?"
"I think we've reached an accord then. Give me your list. I'll restrict our activities only to those you've cleared."
"We can review the roster in the morning then see the Captain about it," said Reed.
Hayes put out his hand and Reed shook it briefly. The competitive streak was clearly in the Major's eyes, but at least the entire crew wouldn't be worried about being spooked by the MACOs. It was a start.
*****
~Brig~
Tucker knew it would be best to remain silent until he saw the Captain on his own. It disturbed him that his lack of control had generated so much trouble for his friend. Currently the Enterprise had two cells for the brig. Tucker decided he would at least separate the men for the night instead of confine them together.
"Major, take your pick," said Tucker.
"Cozy." Hayes merely smirked arrogantly and entered the first cell. He immediately began stripping out of his shirt and began to do calisthenics.
Tucker could see Reed rolling his eyes before he walked to the next cell. The engineer followed him inside.
"You're supposed to remain on the other side, Commander," said Reed tightly.
"Malcolm, you know I'm the one who deserved to get sent to the brig--Damn it, I'll fix this! I just wanted to help--"
"I don't need your help."
The phrase echoed for Tucker as he remembered saying the same thing to Reed. "Look, Malcolm, you don't have to do that stiff upper lip--"
"I'm not. I don't need your help with Major Hayes; I've dealt with such people all my life. Furthermore, it's evident that you can't trust your self-control anymore. I'd be more concerned over that."
Reed released a sigh as he realized he was taking his bad mood out on his friend, but offering Trip compassion certainly had done no good. "Your actions affect others, Trip. This time it was just a blunder in a non-critical situation. What happens next time?"
Tucker couldn't meet Reed's direct gaze.
~~~~~
~Enterprise Corridor~
Hoshi Sato walked stiffly beside Captain Archer. The one good thing, she told herself, was that at least she'd be able to say good night to Malcolm.
"If you walk back right now to McKenzie and apologize, you can avoid the brig." Archer thought he'd give the Ensign a chance to redeem herself.
"No, sir, it would be dishonest. I acted deliberately."
"Hoshi, what got into you?" Archer stopped walking and turned to face her. He finally noticed her haircut. "And what did you do to your hair?"
"My new look is courtesy of Porthos, Captain."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean you've neglected him so much lately that he gets too playful when someone finally gives him some attention. He bit the cap off the flame retardant in my cabin and this is the result. I've been told it looks quite fetching."
The way Hoshi said the last word made Archer realize why she was at movie night. Hoshi--and Malcolm? Together? What else had he been missing?
"I'm sorry about your hair. I'll see that Porthos is--"
"What were you doing while I was watching him for you?"
"I was busy--I had things to--" Archer stopped as he realized he had merely wanted his pet's whining to stop. He was reviewing an obscure database for any hint of information about an encounter with the Xindi. "Look, I need every spare moment I have to find out more about the Xindi."
"Jon, listen to yourself. If you can't even see that your dog needs you, how are you going to see that your crew needs you, too?" Hoshi's disappointment was clearly in her voice. "Now you can add insubordination to the reasons I'm going to the brig, sir."
They walked on in silence for a moment.
"I'm sorry about Porthos. Your hair looks fine."
"I'm sorry I embarrassed the crew with my stunt. I'll apologize to McKenzie tomorrow, but I'm still going to the brig tonight."
Archer nodded.
~~~~~
~Brig~
As they approached the cells, Archer could hear Hayes counting off push-ups from his cell as Tucker was leaving the other one that contained Reed.
"Hoshi?" asked Tucker in surprise.
"Ensign Sato is confined to the brig tonight, Commander. See to it," said Archer before he abruptly left.
Trip registered the look of wonder that passed across Malcolm's face as he gazed at Hoshi. The Ensign offered the Lieutenant a tentative smile. "Hi, Malcolm."
"What did you do?" asked Trip.
"Ahem, you could say I promoted McKenzie to the rank of kernel."
"You didn't? The popcorn?" asked Malcolm incredulously.
"Popcorn? You wasted that prime bag of popcorn?"
"She insulted the Enterprise crew--and she shoved me. You know I hate that," said Hoshi.
Malcolm could only nod. He assumed he'd be moved in with the grunt next door, but Trip surprised them both.
"Well, Malcolm, I know yOU said not to help, but I think this time, you're just stuck with it." Trip turned to Hoshi and said, "If you don't mind, we'll just keep the Starfleet officers together this time."
Hoshi smiled at Malcolm's look of disbelief and quickly entered the cell before he could protest. It wasn't a date made in heaven, but it was far from being in hell.
-----
The two cells of the brig were situated side by side and shared a solid wall. The front of each cell held a force field to contain the prisoners. Reed and Sato could hear Hayes grunting as he exercised next door.
"Is he for real?" asked Hoshi.
"Believe me, I grew up with worse," said Malcolm with a sigh. He ran a hand through his hair and said, "But people like Hayes don't change."
"You have," said Hoshi as she approached Malcolm with her hands behind her back. She continued once she faced him.
"And I thought you were just as much of a stiff necked... "
Hoshi flicked Malcolm's collar gently with her hand.
"...rigid, unbending, by-the-book man..."
Hoshi ran her hand along Malcolm's shoulder to his elbow.
"...who detested weakness, fear, and was completely untouchable."
Hoshi clasped Malcolm's hand in hers and brought their hands in front of them.
"But you learned to bend, you helped us overcome our fears, and I don't find you untouchable any more."
Malcolm's eyes were bright as he considered Hoshi's words. He knew his similarities with Hayes, but the comparison made him see things in himself that he had never liked. Yet here was Hoshi telling him that the man she saw was the one he wanted to be. He smiled at her gently and touched her face.
"This isn't what I wanted our night to be like, Hoshi, but maybe it's for the best."
Hoshi nodded. "It seems a bad time to start another new adventure."
She looked away from Malcolm for a moment knowing that she had to find just the right thing to say. "You can't end something that never began."
"Then why does it hurt?" asked Malcolm plaintively.
"Because it's something that wants to begin. And maybe what we should do is just leave the seed planted and wait for the time when we can nurture this."
"Will we ever have that time?"
Hoshi finally looked into Malcolm's eyes again. "I promise you that I will survive, Malcolm Reed. Will you do the same for me?"
"Yes, it will help if I can believe that at the end of this mission we can find our beginning."
Malcolm brought Hoshi's hand to his lips and gave it a soft kiss. She smiled but didn't let go of his hand. Malcolm quirked an eyebrow. "Isn't this the part where you're supposed to let go of my hand?"
She merely led him to sit on the bottom bunk that occupied the cell. "No, this is the part where we finally spend some time relaxing."
"Holding hands?" asked Malcolm as he settled beside Hoshi.
"At least I'll know where they are," said Hoshi slyly.
"Good point," admitted Malcolm. What had he gotten himself into with this woman? Still, Malcolm found himself confiding in her. "I need to find a way to keep the MACOs from spooking our crew. In fact, they need to see themselves as part of the Enterprise."
Hoshi smiled as she said, "Jon had to work at getting some people to fit in, didn't he? And we were all Starfleet to begin with."
Malcolm nodded saying, "I'm beginning to appreciate the Captain's efforts, but he's been too preoccupied with the Xindi to deal with the MACOs. So that leaves it to me to find some way to ease the tension among the crew. I'm ultimately in charge of security for the ship."
"I refuse to find out their favorite foods--although I'm sure McKenzie won't like popcorn any time soon."
"And here I thought you'd do anything for a friend," said Malcolm with mock disappointment.
"I am your friend otherwise I would say you could get marooned on a shuttle with them--"
"Or on a Klingon ship," offered Malcolm as he remembered his eye-opening adventure with Hoshi.
"I love photon torpedoes," said Hoshi with a sigh. "Yes, that would do it."
"Yes, it would, wouldn't it? You just gave me an idea."
"You're going to maroon the MACOs on a Klingon ship? Or fire photon torpedoes at them?"
"Neither, but we will play a little game of war. Now if I can just talk to Hayes."
"The grunting next door has stopped. Too bad you can't just walk over and talk to him." Hoshi slumped against the wall as she sat on the bunk.
"Oh, but I can," said Malcolm with a smirk.
-----
They heard someone approaching before Hoshi could ask what he meant. She recognized that voice immediately.
"Major Hayes?"
"Mac, what are you doing here?" they could hear Major Hayes ask.
McKenzie looked at Major Hayes and brought herself to attention. The man had stripped out of his shirt and his body had a fine sheen of perspiration that could not be hidden by the tank top he still wore.
Mac ignored her racing heart as she had been doing for the past year and answered calmly, "Sir, Captain Archer gave me permission to see if you needed anything brought to you from your quarters."
"I don't need anything, but--what the hell happened to your hair?"
"Uhm, I--" McKenzie touched the damp hair framing her face. She hadn't bothered pulling it back yet.
"I did."
Both McKenzie and Hayes turned their heads to the adjacent cell when they heard Hoshi Sato's voice.
"You can't imagine what I had to do to get that stuff out of my hair," said McKenzie as she glared at the neighboring cell.
"At least you didn't have to cut yours," grumbled Sato but not backing down. Sato and Reed stepped out of their cell and moved to stand in front of their counterparts.
Hoshi stepped toward McKenzie and whispered, "Your hair looks fine; you didn't miss anything."
"What's the meaning of this, Lieutenant? There's supposed to be a force field to contain these cells." Hayes looked at Reed suspiciously.
"I know; I created them, Major," said Reed, then continued, "so of course I have my own remote deactivation."
Reed flashed the palm-sized transmitter to Hayes.
"What kind of security do you have on this ship, Lieutenant?"
"It's a failsafe in case the ship is boarded and our facilities are used against us. We've learned from experience."
"Your being confined to the brig is nothing but a joke!"
"No, it's not a joke, it simply means my Captain trusts me. He knows I won't violate my confinement."
"Then why are you walking out?"
"I'm not walking out, Major. I'm walking over to speak with you." Reed walked into the cell with Hayes and activated the force field again. "If that makes you feel more comfortable, we can leave it on."
Hayes was shrugging back into his shirt. He turned to McKenzie and said, "Dismissed," before following Reed to stand in the far corner of the cell to talk.
-----
"You're jealous, aren't you?" asked Sato quietly as she watched McKenzie deflate as soon as Hayes had turned his back. The Ensign turned and walked toward the other cell. She wasn't surprised when McKenzie followed her as she stepped inside.
"What? Of course not. Why would I be jealous of you? Major Hayes won't get involved with a--."
"A woman under his command. I know it by heart, but I wasn't suggesting you thought I was after Hayes." Sato looked away from McKenzie and said, "Hayes and Reed are very similar, but there's one big difference. Malcolm has learned how to bend."
"Well, I'm not after the Major, either, and I don't want him to bend any rules against fraternization."
Hoshi merely quirked an eyebrow as elegantly as T'Pol ever did.
"I just admire Major Hayes and think he deserves a lot more respect than he's getting from this crew."
"Maybe he needs to learn to see us as people and not just the nameless crew. It seems that you MACOs have been spending so much time on group cohesion that you're turning everything into us versus them."
"We know we're on the same side," said McKenzie insistently.
"But you don't act like it," responded Sato. "It took all of us time to learn to work together on Enterprise. We didn't become a crew just by constantly training with each other. We couldn't just stay in the world created by our assigned department. We had to learn to ask for help. And to give it even when the help wasn't appreciated. We had to learn to reach out."
"So now everything's all warm fuzzies with you people?" said McKenzie somewhat sarcastically.
"No, no one is living in a perfect world, but at least I'll know who I'm dying for--and who I want to live for."
-----
"You don't think she'll kill her?" was the first question Hayes asked Reed with a jerk of his head to the wall separating the cells.
"No, Hoshi's had her fun for the night. McKenzie should be safe," assured Reed.
"That wasn't what I meant," said Hayes.
"It should have been," said Reed.
Hayes was surprised by Reed's tone, but decided to get to the point. "What was the purpose of this discussion, Lieutenant?"
"The purpose is to reach some accord concerning your training exercises."
"Surveillance is a skill that needs constant development."
"I understand, but selecting random targets from the crew of the Enterprise is just making everyone paranoid. I don't need my officers getting any jumpier out here."
"It'll toughen them up."
"No, the stalking just makes them more anxious."
"I'm not going to let my team lose their skills while we wait for the action. I refuse to coddle this crew."
Reed immediately understood the recent edginess of the MACOs. All this time they were ready for action, but nothing had happened. They were intent on creating their own.
"In a real deployment it is unlikely that you would focus on random targets, Major. In fact, aren't you likely to devise strategies against those who will be expecting the attack?"
Hayes stood back for a moment. "Keeping my team busy helps them gain confidence. We don't intend to let Earth down. I will not stop the training exercises."
"I'm not suggesting you do. I am suggesting you limit your tactics against my trained security personnel. THEY will offer you a challenge and it would benefit both the Starfleet officers and you MACOs."
Hayes considered this for a moment. It would offer a challenge to test the skills against each other. "War games? How many targets?"
"I'll clear the details with the Captain, but we can expand the list to about thirty potential targets. To my security details I can add the crew that has the most field experience, the best marksmanship, the type of background that would test your skills."
"I would expect you to include yourself on that list, Lieutenant," said Hayes with a grim smile.
Reed nodded, "Yes, I would be on the list. So would Ensign Mayweather, Ensign Sato, and Doctor Phlox. But you leave three eligible people out of this surveillance."
"The Captain." Reed nodded. Hayes thought for a moment, "Who else would be exempt?"
"Commander Tucker and T'Pol."
"Come on, Tucker is the First Officer--"
"And has enough duties to attend to without adding this to his list. Besides, he could help the Captain evaluate the success of these war games. Or are you worried your team won't fare well against us?"
"I think we've reached an accord then. Give me your list. I'll restrict our activities only to those you've cleared."
"We can review the roster in the morning then see the Captain about it," said Reed.
Hayes put out his hand and Reed shook it briefly. The competitive streak was clearly in the Major's eyes, but at least the entire crew wouldn't be worried about being spooked by the MACOs. It was a start.
*****