Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, nor anything that is a trademarked part of the television show Star Trek: Enterprise. I wish I did, but life is just not that good to me.
Time
By The Intrepid Traveler
A/N: This fic may eventually contain or imply T/R Slash, so if you don't like that kind of thing, please don't read. And my other fic, Drifting has been on hold for forever I know, but expect a new chapter very very soon. I just got a little case of writer's block.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
The air was light, with a cool breeze blowing over everything as Commander Trip Tucker and Lieutenant Malcolm Reed walked through the forest. The sun was setting over the lush green planet they were currently visiting, casting shadows through the canopy of trees above them. The two Starfleet Officers trudged along silently, their footsteps heavy from the weight on their backs, backpacks carrying a tent and food and supplies. Their path was uneven and uncleared as they walked towards the middle of the forest, surrounded by enormous leafy green trees, tall grasses and hanging vines. While normally they would be overjoyed to be exploring an alien planet, today they were significantly less enthused than usual. After several hard and trying weeks aboard Enterprise, the two had come down to this green paradise to relax and get away from the ship, under orders from Captain Archer. The fact that they had been ordered to relax together was no coincidence either.
Shouts of excitement could be heard in the distance, carrying towards the men on the breeze. The squeals were coming from exo-biologists, who rarely left the ship on away missions and had found a hidden treasure trove of new plant species on the otherwise lifeless planet. The exo-biologists would be taking samples and scans for three days while the two officers camped nearby. For the first time in a long time, Enterprise was involved in a very routine mission of exploration.
For the past several weeks, it had seemed that life would never be as quiet and peaceful as it had once been. Enterprise had been sent to solve a dispute between the Klingons and the Andorians, with both concerned about the other encroaching on their territory. Of course, the Klingons had not cared about, nor wanted, Starfleet involvement, and had, as usual, responded to their attempts to mediate with attacks on their ship and violence. At one point the Klingons had even boarded and attempted to take the ship internally. Several crewmen had died in that attack, and the Klingons had nearly succeeded in their efforts. In the end, the Klingons had been beaten off, with their honour still intact of course. It was simply lucky that war had not been declared at any point during the conflict.
So after weeks of conflict, and then weeks of repairing the nearly-destroyed ship, it had been a blessing when Enterprise had encountered a beautiful lush green Minshara class planet, covered with plant-life, but no signs of other life.
Captain Archer was not going to assign anybody to shore leave though, until he realized that something was wrong with two of his senior officers.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Three days earlier, Captain Jonathan Archer sat at the desk in his ready room, his head in his hands. Funeral services were always difficult, and he had just come from the services for two of his crewman who had died in the Klingon attack. The mood on the ship had been very solemn lately, and today many of the crew had broken down at the service. He had tried hard not to show the crew that he too was overwhelmed by everything that had happened recently, but now, alone in his ready room, he could finally let himself reflect on recent events. His reverie was interrupted by the soft chirp of someone at his door.
"Captain," T'Pol said as she stepped gracefully into his ready room, "I believe that there is a problem with the crew."
"I figured there might be problems, after everything that's been happening lately. What's going on?" the Captain asked.
"While the crew is very tired and in need of shore leave, the problem is more specific than that. It's Commander Tucker and Lieutenant Reed. Their behaviour has become erratic, and their job performance has suffered. I believe it would be best if you spoke to them." T'Pol replied, seriously. Archer knew that this detached statement was T'Pol's way of saying that she was worried, as much as a Vulcan could be worried.
Archer had seen the two of them at the funeral services. They had seemed fine, if a little stiff and unemotional. Although Trip had had a nasty looking bruise on his face that hadn't been there before...
"Their behaviour has become erratic?" Archer asked. "That's not surprising at all, given the circumstances. They've been working harder than anybody these last few weeks. Erratic how?"
T'Pol paused, and her eyebrow raised and Archer knew that there was something unusual about what she was about to tell him. "According to the Armoury staff, the two of them became involved in an... altercation last week."
"I haven't heard anything about it. What kind of an altercation?" The Captain asked her to repeat herself.
"Mr. Tucker confronted Mr. Reed about several engineering problems which Mr. Reed had contributed to during our conflict with the Klingons. Apparently Mr. Reed's team blew several key engineering systems diverting power to the weapons while we were under attack, and Commander Tucker was very upset. The confrontation became violent, and the two began fighting..."
"Fighting? A fist fight? What the hell were they thinking?" the Captain interrupted, and began pacing.
"Captain..." T'Pol told him calmly. "Lieutenant Reed and Commander Tucker had been involved in several rather loud public arguments before this incident. As well, according to their staffs both of them have been highly irritable recently. They have also been neglecting to sleep and eat, often working double or triple shifts. Their staff have tried speaking to them, as has Doctor Phlox. Even now, they are still highly irritable, especially around each other. I believe that perhaps the two of them should be given shore leave on the planet we've discovered, perhaps they can help the exo-biology team to collect samples. It may help them to resolve their differences."
The Captain sat on his chair with a sigh, realizing that, while shore leave on a planet covered in nothing but plant-life was unconventional, he would have to do something about his senior officers behaviour. Things certainly couldn't continue as they had been.
"OK. That sounds like a good way to handle the situation." he told T'Pol. "Thank you for the advice, T'Pol. I'll speak with them." T'pol left, and the door closed behind her with a soft hiss, leaving Archer alone with his thoughts.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Trip Tucker was mad as hell. He hadn't eaten breakfast that morning, hadn't slept in two days and was not in a good mood to begin with, and Malcolm Reed was really getting on his last nerve. Trip angrily stormed into the Armoury, prepared for battle and not caring if it meant another beating from the smaller man. He was determined to have it out with him. "Malcolm," he yelled towards the Armoury officer, who was leaned over working on the torpedoes nearby. Malcolm didn't look up. "Lieutenant!" Trip yelled, pulling rank, knowing that would get the man's attention.
Finally Malcolm looked up from his station, but he certainly didn't look pleased at being bothered. "Was there a problem, Commander?" he asked coldly. "Or was the last beating I gave you simply not enough?"
An audible gasp was heard, as every person in the Armoury stopped what they were doing and turned their heads to watch the confrontation. They had never heard the polite and quiet Armoury officer ever speak to anyone in such a manner, especially a superior officer.
Commander Tucker's anger dissipated slightly in his shock. But then the anger came back again, full force. "What in the hell is wrong with you? Have you lost your goddamned mind, asking for help from engineering to fix your weapons, when you know full well that I've got every person in there pulling double shifts to get this ship running properly again?" He demanded an answer. "I thought we'd settled this. I can't spare any people right now. In fact, maybe some of your armoury staff should come to engineering to help out, seeing as how they are clearly completely incompetent at their jobs here or we wouldn't be in this mess to begin with!"
At this comment, shock swept through the room. Several of the Armoury staff slumped down and began to cry, while others gagged and left the room, clearly upset. In his anger, Trip didn't seem to notice the scene he was causing. Malcolm's face contorted, and the people watching suspected that he might begin to cry, but instead they were shocked when he lunged at Trip with a grunt, and the two of them fell to the ground yelling and grabbing at each other, the fight quickly degenerating into scratching and hair-pulling and screaming. Hardly the behaviour of two dignified Starfleet senior officers.
It was of course that moment that the Captain chose to walk through the door.
"Hey!" he yelled at them trying to get their attention, with no success. "Hey!" Several of the other Armoury officers now began trying to pull the pair apart. Begrudgingly, they separated, bloody and battered, still giving each other dirty looks. Archer had no choice but to get tough with the two of them. "My ready room, NOW!" he barked, and quickly turned on his heel and left the room. The two officers followed him slowly out the door, limping from their injuries.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
"Would one of you please explain to me what in the HELL you were thinking?" Archer asked roughly. "Do you have any idea how serious this is? By all rights I should put the two of you in the brig!"
Archer paced quickly in front of the two raggedy-looking men, pausing every so often to look one of them in the eye, looking very much like a tiger stalking it's prey. He stopped for a moment in front of Malcolm. "And as for you Lieutenant," he told the man harshly, "I could have you stripped of your rank and relieved of your position for assaulting a superior officer."
Malcolm looked horrified at the thought. "Sir, I..." he stammered, but was interrupted.
"Don't worry Malcolm," the Captain reassured him quickly, "I'm not going to do that, but you are just lucky I'm an understanding person."
"Sir?" Trip asked him, perplexed.
As Captain Archer took in his two beaten and torn officers, he noticed for the first time the damage the fight had not been responsible for: dark circles under their eyes, and a thinness to their features that hadn't been there before. He realized that perhaps anger was the wrong approach at that moment. "The two of you have been working very hard lately. Too hard, in fact. This incident proves that."
"Cap'n," Trip cut in, "Everybody's been working hard. Things have been tough, and it's my responsibility to make sure this ship is running right..."
"Not at the cost of your own health, Trip," Archer cut in sympathetically. "Phlox tells me that he's repeatedly threatened to pull both of you off-duty if you continued to overwork yourselves. You've ignored him. So now I'm pulling you off-duty." A groan of protest from Trip interrupted him. "You are both going to take some time off, away from the ship."
"Away from the ship, sir?" asked Malcolm.
"That's right. The two of you are going to help the exo-biology team collect samples on the planet we're currently orbiting."
"We're not exo-biologists, Cap'n." Trip argued.
"You can learn to be." the Captain replied smartly.
"We'd be of much more use on the ship, sir." Malcolm piped in. "What if something were to happen?"
"What's going to happen?" Archer asked with a slight smile. "We're currently orbiting a planet covered in plants. There's not so much as an insect down there."
"You can never be too careful, sir." Malcolm replied solemnly. "I believe that it would be better if we remained aboard. There's still work to be done in the Armoury."
"I don't care about work in the Armoury, Malcolm. You're team can handle it. You're going down to the planet, and that's an order."
"Fine, sir." Malcolm replied solemnly.
"You too, Trip." the Captain told the man.
"Well, OK then." Trip said reluctantly. "I guess I'll go down one day and Malcolm can go the other."
The Captain smirked, knowing that his next piece of news would not go down well. "The two of you will both be going down together for the whole three days." he told them.
"But sir..." Malcolm stuttered.
"C'mon, Cap'n..." Trip complained loudly.
"You will both be taking shore leave for the next three days." Archer told them brusquely. "Together." He gave them a moment to take in the finality of that statement. Wisely, neither of them tried to argue. "Have Phlox take a look at your injuries, and then head back to your quarters. You're both confined there for the rest of the day. Meet the biology team in the shuttle bay tomorrow morning at 0800. Dismissed."
There was nothing left for anybody to say. Trip and Malcolm turned around and left. However, Archer swore that if the door could have slammed shut behind them, it would have.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
And so, here the two of them were, trudging along through the thick underbrush of an ancient and unknown forest, looking for a good place to camp. Tomorrow, they would have a full day of collecting plants, and cataloguing them. Not exactly either of their ideas of fun. As they walked, the silence was deafening. Without the usual noise of birds and insects one would expect in such a beautiful outdoor setting, their walk seemed rather lonely, and each man was lost in his own thoughts. The bruises and cuts from their fights had been repaired by Doctor Phlox, but the emotional damage would not heal quite so quickly. It would take time before they could return to being friends, before they could accept each other's presence again.
As the sun set, the trees swayed in the wind. Behind them, the path the men had cleared slowly filled back in with plant-life, the vines and grasses moving slowly, seeming to follow them to their campsite, creeping towards them with an odd intensity. As the sun set, the planet came alive.
TBC…