Day 9

Trip ate dinner alone, as per usual. He had taken to eating late, when the mess was nearly empty, so as to avoid the prying eyes of the other passengers. He almost regretted giving T'Pol The Lord of the Rings to read. She had barricaded herself in her quarters almost three days ago and refused to come out, even to eat. He sneaked fruit to her so that she could at least have something in her stomach, and though she accepted the food he brought her, she quickly sent him on his way, informing him that she would rejoin him when she had finished the book.

He supposed he should have been pleased that she was enjoying it so much. He did kind of have ulterior motives behind giving her that specific book when he had others to choose from. And T'Pol, being as smart as she was, had probably already figured out his motives but still chose to read the book anyway, which said a lot.

Without T'Pol to keep him company, he immersed himself in his old engineering logs, continually searching for ways to improve Enterprise. He didn't doubt that the crew refitting the ship would do a good job, but he knew the engines inside and out. He liked to think that he and he alone knew what was best for Enterprise. He wished he could talk to some of the Vulcans about their ships, but he had a feeling they wouldn't be so eager to speak with him, so he kept to himself in a back corner of the mess.

He was in the middle of devising a way to stabilize the impulse thrusters during a power surge when he felt someone lean over his shoulder.

"If you did that, your thrusters would ignite," a voice behind him said.

Trip glanced over his shoulder and saw that a tall, unnaturally skinny Vulcan with black hair and eyes stood directly behind him, practically brushing up against his back. Trip set down the fruit he'd been eating and turned in his chair to better face his audience. "Can I help you with something?"

The Vulcan simply stared at him, cocking his head to the side. "No. I was just wondering if I could join you."

Trip raised both eyebrows in surprise. "Uh, sure. I guess."

"Thank you," the Vulcan said. He seated himself at the chair directly across from Trip and gently set his bowl and glass on the table. "My name is Solen."

"Trip Tucker."

Solen reached for his spoon. "Interesting name. Do you have a title, Mister Tucker?"

"I'm a commander in Starfleet. Chief engineer of the Enterprise." He leaned forward. "Listen, I don't mean to be rude, but what the hell do you want?"

Solen glanced up from his soup. He appeared unfazed, but three years of reading T'Pol had taught Trip a thing or two about Vulcan facial expressions. Solen was definitely surprised at his behavior. "The only thing I want, Commander Tucker, is to have a conversation with you."

The shuttle had been traveling at warp six for the past nine days with no stops, which meant that Solen had boarded around the same time Trip and T'Pol had. So why hadn't he approached Trip earlier, if all he wanted to do was talk? Trip grabbed the piece of fruit and took a healthy bite out of it. "Why now?"

"Commander Tucker, look around you." Trip did as he was told, but saw nothing. "The room is virtually empty, which means our chances of being overheard are small."

Trip was intrigued. "What are you gonna tell me that you don't want others to know?"

Solen stirred his soup. "Only that I am fascinated by humans. The others do not approve of my curiosity, but I have been on Earth many years studying your species. Yours is a most interesting planet."

Trip's interest was rapidly waning. Of all the things he'd anticipated before coming aboard the Vulcan shuttle, being an object of curiosity had not been one of them. "So you just wanted to talk to a human?"

"That is correct."

Trip sighed and returned his attention the PADD he'd been reading before Solen had appeared. As he scanned the information, he realized that Solen had, unfortunately, been correct. If he had done what he'd speculated, the thrusters would have exploded. "Anything in particular you wanna know?"

"What is your relationship to your Vulcan traveling companion?"

Trip looked up from the PADD in shock. Solen wasn't looking at him – he was calmly eating his soup – but Trip thought he could detect a flicker of amusement in his black eyes. Trip struggled to keep his face and voice neutral when he responded. "We're friends. We both serve on Enterprise."

Solen briefly flicked his eyes upward to catch Trip's gaze before returning to his soup. "So that is the famous T'Pol."

"You've heard of T'Pol?" This guy just kept throwing curve balls.

"Oh, yes. She's the only Vulcan to have served aboard a human ship for such a long period of time. That, and her very public resignation from the High Command. Many question her motives. They could hardly be considered logical."

Trip could feel his blood beginning to boil. "Not everything has to be logical."

"For Vulcans it does. Logic defines everything we do." He finished his soup and stood. "It was most agreeable to speak with you, Commander Tucker."

Trip watched Solen walk away and slumped on the table. Were he and T'Pol that obvious?

A/N: Just found out a few days ago that "galley" is actually the kitchen, which I did not know before, so if you see that used incorrectly, it's because I forgot to fix it and haven't had the chance to go back and check. My bad.