Sipping his coffee, Malcolm examined the news articles on his PADD. He paged through, briefly noting the various political rhetoric and rallies for various causes. There was a rally for the Isolationist Party on the lunar colony of New Berlin, and he skimmed the article briefly.

When were they going to learn? He shook his head and scoffed. Their philosophy was outdated and their methods were obtuse. They deemed space travel outside humanity's own solar system as reckless and counterproductive. They abhorred alien contacts, with exception to Vulcan, and supported a ban on interspecies commerce. They were an obsolete political party with no power.

"Is this seat taken?"

Malcolm looked up and saw the ever-cheerful face of Enterprise's helmsman. "Please have a seat," he replied and motioned for Travis to sit.

Travis sat down and grimaced. The man had stuck his nose back into his PADD and was shoveling food into his mouth at a faster rate. Talk about rude! "Have you seen Ho – Lieutenant Sato, this morning?"

Malcolm started coughing. With any luck, she was still asleep. She wasn't due to wake up until noon. At least that's what he had set her alarm for. "No...I haven't."

Travis sipped some juice. "That's weird. She's normally the first one in line for breakfast," he stated as he reached into his pocket for his communicator.

"What are you doing?" Malcolm asked.

"I'm going to call her." Travis smiled.

"She's off duty...Perhaps she's still asleep," Malcolm mumbled, stuffing a piece of toast in his mouth.

Travis could hardly believe his ears. Had they finally patched things up? For somebody who rarely put a three-word sentence together, his superior officer was becoming quite a Chatty-Kathy. He smiled wider. "I see she passed self-defense."

Malcolm stared at the young lieutenant skeptically. "I was quite impressed with your score, Mr. Mayweather. I hate to impose on Lieutenant Gomez any more than necessary and was looking for an alternate sparring partner. I was wondering if you would be interested?"

Travis' mouth hung open, a pile of eggs perched precariously on his fork and he shuddered on the inside. "Uh, sure, sir."

"Splendid!" Malcolm exclaimed cheerily. "I work out Tuesdays and Thursdays in the evenings."

Travis gulped nervously, wondering how the hell he had been bamboozled into training with Malcolm Reed. No wonder Hoshi didn't like him.

Malcolm looked down at his PADD and grinned. Hoshi picked her friends well. He could see Lieutenant Mayweather shovel his breakfast down and wipe his mouth.

"Well, it was nice talking to you, sir," Travis mumbled as he stood up. Damn! He was going to have indigestion all day.

--

Her stomach growling, Hoshi woke up, feeling amazingly refreshed. She sighed, finally able to think straight for the first time in a long time. That hour really did the trick. Out of habit she peered at her terminal to check the time. Obviously, she was up before her alarm had gone off.

"Oh shit!" Hoshi jumped out of bed and ran out of her quarters. She was way behind and she was going to have to pull an all-nighter to get those verified translations ready for Captain Archer by tomorrow morning and she hadn't even started on them.

The turbolift opened and she ran right into a wall of warmth.

"Easy there, Hoshi. Where's the fire?" Travis asked as he stumbled backwards, holding her steady.

"I've got to go. I've got to get something to eat and get to the bridge." Hoshi tried pulling away from him, but Travis wouldn't let her go.

"Uh, Hoshi. I think you're a little – "

"Will you let go of me?" Hoshi tugged on her arm.

"Is there a problem?"

Hoshi straightened and turned, all too familiar with Malcolm's voice.

Clearing his throat, Travis stepped in front of Hoshi. "No, sir."

Malcolm stared at Travis, then looked around at Hoshi. "Aren't you a little underdressed, Lieutenant?"

She hadn't even noticed her attire. She was still dressed in her workout clothes, but had managed to take off her shoes and socks before she crashed last night.

Travis moved out of the way and she blushed as everybody looked down at her bare feet.

Malcolm's eyes traveled up and down the length of her body, noticing her painted toenails and the clothes she had on last night. Her hair was messy and her eyes were glassy. "Are you feeling well, Lieutenant?"

"I-I'm fine," she stammered, curling her toes into the deck. "I'll go back to my quarters and change, sir. I apologize for my – "

"There's no need to apologize," Malcolm interrupted.

Listening to the exchange, Travis shook his head in disbelief. Just two days ago, they were barely civil to one another.

"Your shift was canceled last night and you have been taken off today's duty roaster," Malcolm explained nonchalantly.

Hoshi was at a loss for words.

"I've also changed your scheduled target practice to 1900 Thursday night."

"Why?" she asked skeptically.

"It's my understanding you're supposed to be resting in your quarters." Malcolm's voice held an underlying menace. He knew this confrontation wouldn't go well. How was he going to explain to her that he had arranged a day off for her to rest? How was he going to explain to her that he reset the alarm in her terminal to noon today? What else were friends for, right?

"You were taken off today's duty roaster and – " he started again.

"Why?" she repeated.

"There goes any civility," Travis thought to himself as he watched Hoshi become confrontational.

Shrugging his shoulders, Malcolm turned to leave. "Perhaps you should speak with Doctor Phlox."

Hoshi frowned. She hadn't seen Phlox for several weeks now. Why would he take her off the rotation? "I don't have the time. I've got a translation due and I'm already behind on it. I've got to eat, shower, and get to the bridge. There isn't any – "

"I'm sure Lieutenant Mayweather would be more than happy to bring you some breakfast," Malcolm suggested.

Travis nodded his head in an exaggerated manner. The lieutenant commander's tone sounded ominous.

"But I have to – " Hoshi started to say.

"Go back to your quarters and rest – doctor's orders," Malcolm stated as he summoned the lift.

"I – "

"Do I need to call security?"

The threat hung in the air and Travis took a step back. He didn't want to get between them in case things got ugly. Holding his breath, he prayed Hoshi would back down.

Between her stomach growling and the call of nature, she realized she wasn't going to be able to stand barefoot in the hall and argue with Malcolm. "No, sir."

She eyed Malcolm warily and the door to the lift opened. There was something he wasn't telling her and she was going to find out what it was. Her gaze lingering on Malcolm, Hoshi spoke to Travis. "I want whatever fruit is being served, eggs over easy, and some toast, please. Add some coffee and I'll be good to go. I can always work on the translation in my quarters."

Hoshi backed into the lift.

Malcolm watched the doors shut and glared at them. "Make sure the coffee is decaffeinated," he murmured to Travis.

Travis watched him walk away and shook his head. There was definitely something between them, and he planned on weaseling it out of Hoshi.