She couldn't believe she had let him talk her into this. Hoshi had stared at him, slack-jawed and unbelieving that he was asking her to help him hack into Vulcan personnel records.

"This is insane," Hoshi muttered under her breath, watching the encryption protocol, as it whittled away in front of her.

"Don't worry," Malcolm assured her. "If this backfires, it won't affect your career."

Hoshi sighed wearily, following the order that had come directly from the captain. "I just don't understand why – "

"You don't need to know, Lieutenant," he answered, feeling like the biggest horse's ass for bothering her with this. She still wasn't on active duty and she still looked pale.

Clenching her fist, Hoshi turned to look at him. "The least you could do is stop breathing down my neck."

He was stooped over her shoulder, his head was even with hers, and he stood to his full height quickly.

"You want to tell me what I'm supposed to be looking for?" Hoshi said irritably.

"It's need-to-know, Lieutenant," he replied sharply, holding a UT scanner up to the screen and reading as the mumbo jumbo flashed across the screen. "This isn't working." Malcolm smacked the tool with his other hand.

Hoshi smirked, snatching the scanner out of his hand. "That's because I'm not past the security protocols."

The computer made a rude noise and the tension between the former lovers broke, Hoshi tapping into the keyboard at a furious pace and frowning. A quick pattern of lights flashed across the screen and it went blank.

"Damn," she cursed.

"What happened?"

"The parameters you gave me are too broad," she said through gritted teeth. "I can't search for something I don't know what I'm looking for."

"It's –"

"Don't give me that need-to-know garbage, sir. Either you want my help or you don't." She pushed away from the desk.

He ran his hand through his hair and paced the length of her cabin. "I knew this was a mistake. You're still not –"

"What?" Hoshi called out sharply. "Over you?"

Calming himself and willing himself not to rise to her bait, Malcolm smiled. "I was about to say you weren't up to it. After all, you still aren't on active duty, and you should still be resting. But since you brought up the subject, let's discuss it."

He had stopped pacing right in front of her and she suddenly felt as though she were being stalked.

"I never had the opportunity to apologize for my behavior during your weapons' training and – "

The chime chirped and Hoshi jumped up, effectively cutting off Malcolm's apology. "I better get that," she muttered.

Opening the door, Hoshi thanked fate for her visitor.

"Hi, Hoshi," Travis greeted her, pushing his way into her quarters and stopping short when he saw Malcolm standing next to her desk. "I – I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt – "

"You didn't interrupt anything," Hoshi replied, plastering a fake smile on her face. "I was just doing some translation work for the Lieutenant Commander."

Malcolm nodded in agreement.

"Well then, I'll just come back later, and – "

"What do you need, Travis?" Hoshi asked quickly, trying to delay his departure as long as possible. God knows she didn't want to listen to Malcolm's lame-ass excuse of an apology regarding that stupid little kiss during target practice.

Hearing the unease in her voice, Travis hesitated to leave. Malcolm was glaring at him and he was certain if the man had a phase pistol, he would have a pistol burn right between his eyes. Somehow he managed to contain his perceptive grin and realized that now was as good as time as any to put his plan in motion.

"I was wondering if you were up to a movie tonight," Travis said, adding a teasing quality to his voice. "I have it on good authority that I will be able to arrange any movie of your choosing, while everybody else has to suffer through Commander Tucker's choice."

"Sure," Hoshi agreed.

Turning so Malcolm couldn't see him face, Travis continued in a low voice, but not low enough that the other man couldn't hear him, "That way we can snuggle and enjoy some popcorn."

"Okay," Hoshi replied slowly, not really sure what Travis was trying to hint at.

"It's a date, then." Travis smiled and kissed her on the cheek. "Sir." He nodded in acknowledgement of Malcolm before he left.

Hoshi stared at her friend like he had a tail. What the hell was he up to? Oh no! This didn't bode well. She peeked at Malcolm through lowered lids. That was Travis' plan? Make Malcolm jealous? Was he nuts? Wait a minute. This could work to her advantage.

She smiled and sat down at her desk. "I'm sorry. You were saying, sir?"

Still staring at the door to her quarters, Malcolm shook his head. The words "snuggle" and "date" ran through his head, his mind unable to process his former lover had indeed moved on.

A gnawing sensation churned in his stomach. He should be happy for her, right? Mayweather was a decent person, after all. Then why did he want to beat the bloody hell out of the helmsman, then?

Malcolm's dark musings were cut short as the blank computer screen suddenly sparked to life, flashing Vulcan characters across the screen at an obscene pace. He held the UT scanner up to it and frowned.

"It's just the last of the encryption protocol giving way. We're back in," Hoshi informed proudly as the insignia for the Vulcan High Command popped onto her screen with a prompt.

"You're going to have to tell me what you're looking for, sir," she said, typing quickly. "There's a timer on this and I can't download the entire personnel file – "

"I need any and all information on Ambassador Soval," he replied readily.

Hesitating slightly, Hoshi did as she was told.

After typing continuously for several minutes, she pushed back from the desk. "Now we wait."

"How long?"

"As long as it takes," she mumbled, finally understanding the gravity of the situation.