Title: Grapple This (Coda: The Augments)
Author: Kathy Rose
Rating: PG
Category: Humor
Codes: R/S, M
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to someone else, etc., etc., etc. I'm not making any money, I'm just having fun with the characters. Wish I'd thought of them first.
Spoilers: The Augments, Similtude
Summary: Malcolm is distracted until Hoshi provides a new distraction. Very short story.
"Brilliant! Just bloody brilliant!" Malcolm said in awe as he and Travis and Hoshi walked down the corridor.
Travis traded an indulgent look with Hoshi as Malcolm continued to enthuse about the encounter with the Klingon ship. It wasn't often they heard Malcolm gush about anything.
"Who would have thought of using the grapplers in an offensive capacity?" Malcolm asked. Before either of his companions could speak, he added, "I know I certainly wouldn't have. Not any more, though. Not after seeing what the captain thought to use them for."
They rounded a curve in the corridor before arriving at the mess hall.
"Of course," Malcolm conceded, "the captain was probably inspired by the time we used the shuttlepods to pull Enterprise out of that polaric field. Grabbing onto another ship to wreak havoc -- it's absolutely brilliant!"
They lined up at the beverage dispenser in the mess hall, Malcolm and Hoshi getting hot tea while Travis got a cup of hot chocolate.
Leading the group over to a table by the windows, Travis was finally able to get a word in. "They're never going to believe this back at Star Fleet headquarters. Using the grapplers to disable a Klingon Class D-5 battle cruiser!"
"That's the beauty of it," Malcolm said as they sat down. "Who would expect such a tactic -- pulling one of their nacelles off with the grappler? The explosions were just an extra bonus."
"We were lucky the Klingons couldn't get a good shot at us while we were doing it," Hoshi said.
Malcolm nodded and took a sip of tea.
"The captain knew what he was doing," Travis said. "I could tell from the schematics on my console that they couldn't angle their weapons to get us."
"You know," Malcolm said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a PADD, "I really must give some thought in case we're ever in a similar situation. Might be a good idea to run some simulations..."
Travis laughed as Malcolm became engrossed in computations he input on the PADD. Turning to Hoshi, Travis said, "That's it. We've lost him for the rest of the evening."
"And here we thought he'd be celebrating his marksmanship with the torpedos," Hoshi said.
As Hoshi watched Malcolm concentrate on the PADD, she pursed her lips. If he thought he was going to bury himself in calculations tonight, he had another thing coming. She'd barely seen him the last few days.
She and Travis chatted for a time, Malcolm totally oblivious to their conversation. When Travis finished his drink, he excused himself and left, leaving Hoshi alone with Malcolm.
Hoshi watched Malcolm for a while, a small smile playing about her lips as she heard him mumble something about stress variables and reinforcing structures. He could become so involved when he was working on something that had both his attention and interest. He had barely touched his tea.
She delicately cleared her throat, and when that didn't work, she did it louder.
"Hmm?" he said, looking up and realizing only Hoshi was sitting with him. "Where did Travis go?"
"He left a few minutes ago," she said.
"I didn't notice," Malcolm said sheepishly. "I'm rather caught up in all the offensive possibilities for the grappler. It's really quite interesting..." His gaze returned to the PADD.
"Malcolm!"
His head shot up to find Hoshi looking at him with a displeased expression on her face.
"I'm sorry," he said. "It's just--"
"I know," she said with a smile. "The grappler."
She got up and came around the table to stand at his side. Leaning down and putting a hand on his shoulder, she whispered in his ear, "How would you like to grapple with something else?"
Malcolm's eyes widened as she winked and ran a finger up his neck to tickle his earlobe.
When she turned and walked away, he took a quick sip of his tea, grabbed the PADD, and followed her out of the mess hall, running computations in his head concerning a different type of grappling.