The three of them walked across the big hall, which buzzed with activity, towards the timetable of the shuttles which was located at the northern part of the East station. The hall had numerous shops and bars. The lights above where green and cast a weird, but not unpleasant glow on the people below. Big screens flashed with alien symbols and the aliens appeared to try and buy as much stuff as possible.
After Malcolm had joined his friends, Trip and Hoshi had begun reporting everything that had happened to them on the planet. Maybe a year or 3 earlier Malcolm would have found it very annoying, but now he found himself laughing with them as they told him about their encounter with some of the other aliens on the planet.
"So I'm already inside, but suddenly I notice Trip's not with me. I turn around, and there's this big fat alien figure standing over Trip by the entrance." Hoshi said and Trip laughed. He continued;
"Asking me what sex ah was!"
"Trip, feeling more than slightly insulted, immediately tells the woman that he is, of course, male. And asks her what sex she might be!" Hoshi giggled and Malcolm grinned, waiting for them to continue. He could just picture the scene.
"She gets angry, ah thought she was goin' to kill me right there and then." Trip imitated the woman's look for more effect. "Hoshi comes up to us and looks at the woman before asking what the problem is."
"And she tells us something about men not being allowed in the building. Really, aliens! Sometimes I can't believe them!" Hoshi said and winked at Malcolm.
"So Hoshi stares at her, and ah'm about the protest when she tells to the alien woman ah'm her personal slave, and that her boss would get very angry if she knew that her visit to her was delayed by somethin' as stupid as this!" Trip laughed and Malcolm stared at Hoshi with an open mouth.
"You told her what?"
Hoshi shrugged and smiled at him.
"Well it worked, didn't it?" She said and Trip wiped the tears from his eyes while continuing laughing.
"So you got in?" Malcolm asked, not believing them. They both nodded and Trip grinned.
"Got everything the Cap'n asked for, too." He added. Malcolm smiled, knowing what Trip meant. He had made some errants for others, too.
"Ah, here we are." Hoshi said and nodded towards the timetables. There was a group of aliens surrounding them, who looked all a bit displeased and Malcolm briefly wondered what was wrong. Hoshi turned towards the display console next to the wall with all kinds of cards and tickets, which he thought were some kind of souvenirs. He and trip let Hoshi puzzle with the alien symbols for a while. Her smile disappeared a few seconds later and she frowned.
"What is it?" Malcolm asked, as he observer her expression. And the general mood of the other aliens, in this case.
"It seems that our shuttle is delayed." Hoshi said. Normally they would have used their own shuttlepods, but they were not allowed in Tanedian airspace. They had to use the local shuttles to get to the station in orbit, and from there get to Enterprise. The captain had tried to talk his way around it, because his officers had loudly complained. But, the alien ambassador hadn't listened to him. So here they were.
"Delayed? How come?" Trip asked, frowning also.
"No idea, it's on here. But we're delayed for at least 3 hours." Hoshi answered and bit her lower lip.
"3 hours?!" Malcolm asked. He shook his head. "Enterprise is waiting for us."
"Ah'll contact them, Ah don't think the cap'n wanted to leave for the next 2 days." Trip said and flipped open his communicator.
"Tucker to En'erprise." He said and waited for a response. When none came, he frowned.
"En'erprise, please respond.." He tried again, but still there was no answer. He looked over to Malcolm, who's expression darkened, and to Hoshi, who's looked slightly nervous.
"Maybe there's too much interference?" Hoshi suggested. "It's a big city..."
"It worked perfectly before. And it should, because there's not that much communication, and no communication on our frequency." Malcolm said. Their eyes turned to Trip, who looked a bit uneasy.
"It's probably nothin'...Maybe a malfunction on Enterprise or somethin'. They'll contact us when it's fixed." He said. Malcolm didn't look convinced, but Hoshi agreed.
"Anyway, no use in us worrying about it here when we can do nothin'. We could use the time to explore some of the city without goin' shoppin' for the Cap'n!" Trip said and grinned.
"Or T'pol.." Malcolm mumbled.
"Or T'pol." Trip laughed. "Hey, I saw a building that looked like a movie theater or somethin' like that. Maybe we could check out what kind of films they have here?" He said, a silly grin plastered to his face. Malcolm looked like he was about to disagree, before Trip stopped him.
"Oh, come on. It'll be fun!"
Maybe fun wasn't the right word for what was waiting for them.