Day Four

Malcolm awoke to see T'Pol straightening the blanket on her bunk. "Good morning," she greeted. "How are you feeling?"

"Like my skin's been stretched out." Examining his arms, he didn't find any visible side effects of the reaction.

"You've only been asleep for nine and a half hours."

"Only?" He never slept for more than seven and a half hours unless Phlox got to him. A circumstance that Malcolm tried to avoid, but he still landed in Sickbay far too often for his liking. It was an occupational hazard.

"It was not a short-term sedative. I'm surprised that you are awake now."

"I'm just full of surprises," he muttered, pulling himself up to a seated position.

T'Pol handed him a water pouch. "I would not recommend eating for another two hours."

"No worries there. I'm not the least bit hungry." She scanned him. "Am I clean?"

"You are suffering residual effects from the allergic reaction. I can't be sure how long it will take for them to subside."

"What's your best guess?" Half of him really didn't want to know, but he asked anyway.

"Four to five hours."

Malcolm put his head in his hands. It was going to be a very, very long morning. An ache had settled into his skin, and he discovered that pressing his head into his hands did not help.

"It rained while you slept," commented T'Pol. "One of the bowls was still outside and is now full of fresh water. Perhaps you would find it refreshing."

He thought that was thoughtful, and opened the hatch. "It's still cloudy," he remarked. "I wonder if it'll rain again."

She stepped out after him with both empty toolkits. "I intend to collect berries."

"The other ones, right?"

"If you are referring to the berries that you likened to grapes, then yes." He didn't want another batch of the nasty berries.

"I suppose it's safe to go alone," he mused.

"We have seen no danger thus far, but I am taking a phase pistol as a precaution." He noticed that she also had a communicator and her tricorder.

"I'm going to find something that could be considered productive." T'Pol nodded in response, and walked off.

Malcolm felt a bit better after rinsing off, although he really wanted a shower. T'Pol's bright blue suit enabled him to see her, as she didn't go into the woods. He allowed himself to speculate for a few moments on her marriage to Trip and the psychic connection it seemed to entail. Unable to imagine it and with no details, he reminded himself that it wasn't really any of his business and looked around for something to do.

He'd finished his arrowhead, but that was frankly not very productive, since they had phase pistols. Besides, holding the rock and shell would only aggravate his skin. As much as he wanted to get the long-range communications up, that task was impossible. There wasn't anything else that could be done to repair the shuttle's major systems until they had the resources of Enterprise.

On the other hand, he might be able to get a minor system or two working. At the very least, it was something to do. Noting T'Pol, still picking berries, he decided that she was safe and went inside.

Then he came right back outside. He was the Head of Security, and he wouldn't let someone go off alone on an unknown island. Just because they hadn't run into danger yet didn't mean that there was no danger. Besides, he'd promised Trip that he'd watch out for T'Pol. (Trip always did that before T'Pol went on an away mission, unbeknownst to her.)

So he settled against the shuttle and began composing his mission report. T'Pol would return shortly, and there was plenty of time to look at the shuttle again.

"I see you found something productive to do," she announced upon her return.

Malcolm tried to act like he hadn't been watching her the whole time. "We're both going to have reports to write, so I decided I'd start on mine. I've just finished listing the damage to the shuttle."

"That must be a long list."

He sighed. "Yes. How was berry-picking?"

"My expedition was a success. In addition to the berries, I harvested nuts."

"Excellent foraging."

"Thank you."

"I think I may be able to repair the maneuvering thrusters. It's not going to get us off this island without the engines, but it would be less work for Engineering when we get back." Of course T'Pol knew the other motive: something to do.

"This will not be one of your creative repairs?"

Smiling, Malcolm shook his head. "No, this will be by the book."

"Do you need assistance?"

"I'll be alright, thanks. There's no reason you can't keep putting samples under that microscope."

She nodded. "I believe that I will study the sand and soil today."

T'Pol was engrossed in her samples when Malcolm's appetite returned. He checked the chronometer and discovered that he was well beyond T'Pol's two-hour suggestion. It still felt like his skin had been stretched, but the sensation was fading. Besides, he was good at ignoring pain when he had something to occupy his attention.

He walked through a maze of thruster parts and picked up the top few ration packs. Lasagna – no, there were more breakfast meals left. A turkey dinner – no, still not breakfast. A bagel – no, he'd better leave that for T'Pol. A ham and cheese omelet – yes, that would do nicely.

Omelet in one hand and water in the other, Malcolm walked out and found T'Pol noting something on her padd. "Are you hungry?"

"I will finish these berries," she said after a minute. He saw the offensive berries that had caused so much trouble and scowled. T'Pol had obviously eaten some earlier, and it made perfect sense not to waste them, but Malcolm would've found it more satisfying to throw them as far as he could.

"This is a decent omelet," he commented. "I didn't think there would be much ham."

She didn't have any response to the ham comment. "Are you making satisfactory progress on the maneuvering thrusters?"

"So far I've taken them apart."

"Trip is fond of reminding Engineering that nearly everyone can take equipment apart, but it takes skill to reassemble the components."

Malcolm had heard Trip say that once or twice, and he nodded. T'Pol missed Trip, although she would not admit it in such a straightforward manner.

T'Pol drained the water out of the bowl and began picking berries off the stems. He took another bite of the omelet. The rising tide could be heard crashing onto the shore in the background, but Malcolm tried not to focus on that.

He'd finished the omelet and T'Pol was down to the last few berry sets when they felt the first raindrops. "We should bring our food and equipment in the shuttlepod," she declared, carefully picking up the microscope and bringing it in.

Malcolm brought the food in, dumping the few remaining allergy-causing berries on the ground in order to leave both bowls out to catch water. The rain got heavier quite rapidly, and the drops were falling steadily by the time he and T'Pol had all their provisions in.

"It's raining cats and dogs!" exclaimed Malcolm as he looked out the window. "That came on fast." He'd thought that perhaps he could take a shower of sorts before, but the pounding would not help his sore skin, so the idea had to be discarded.

"Do you know the origins of that phrase?"

"'Raining cats and dogs?'"

She nodded. "Trip was unable to explain, and your use of the phrase reminded me that I never received a satisfactory explanation."

"I'm not sure about the specifics," he conceded, "but it has something to do with cities on Earth hundreds of years ago. When it rained hard, like this, stray cats and dogs would have to leave their hiding places. I'm not sure if the phrase came from the animals looking for higher ground or the animals drowning, but it's something along those lines." Drowning. Just what he didn't need to think about on a small island.

"In an unusual way, that seems logical."

Malcolm looked at the maneuvering thrusters, the parts of which were spread out all around. "I suppose the outside tips will have to wait."

"Were they heavily damaged?"

"No, but they were knocked out of alignment, and I wouldn't recommend firing them until they're realigned."

"A wise precaution."

"At least we can expect Enterprise soon."

"It could take several more days for them to locate us."

He sighed inwardly. "It's a pity we can't fix the long-range communications."

"While that is true, we are in no danger."

"I didn't know you were an optimist, T'Pol," he kidded.

One eyebrow rose above its normal resting place. "Then you are not the only one who is 'full of surprises.'"