If you remember where we left off...
Trip turned to him. He blinked, as if he was trying to focus. Then a polite smile came across his face. "I'm sorry, have we met?"
x-x
"What?" Malcolm asked, confused.
Before Trip could reply, one of the security guards approached them. "Sir, may I see some identification?" he asked, pulling Malcolm slightly away from the crowd.
Malcolm looked from the guard, to Trip, then to the Captain. Another guard stepped towards them, and started to lead Trip and Archer away.
The first guard asked him, "How'd you get past security?"
"I'm supposed to be here, I'm from Enterprise," he said, his voice strained. Something was really, really wrong here. He looked to Trip and saw his friend watching him warily. Raising his voice, he directed his question to Trip, "Is this some sort of joke?" He watched in amazement as a guard said something to the captain, and his friends turned away.
"Listen," Malcolm said to the guard. "I'm from Enterprise." When the guard didn't respond, he continued. "I'm Human, can't you see..."
The guard squinted at him, as if trying to see him more clearly. Then he blinked, and said, "I'm sorry, sir. Can I help you?"
Malcolm stared at him in amazement. Then he watched as the guard turned away, seeming to forget about him entirely. Malcolm backed away, staring around him as he moved. He bumped into someone and turned with a quick, "Sorry," only to see the guide from earlier peering at him intently.
"Sir, this is a private party. Are you supposed to be here?"
"We've met," Malcolm said, his voice shaking slightly. "I'm from Enterprise."
The guide looked at him sharply. "I think not, sir," he said, then turned and waved to a security guard.
Malcolm closed his eyes a moment. Not again, he thought. This can't be happening. He brushed past the man and ran out the door, back into the garden. Looking for a place where he could take a second and get his bearings, he saw the building where the woman had been, and darted inside.
He leant back against the cool, damp stone wall, and stared into the darkened interior, trying to catch his breath. He heard something in the darkness, to his right, and turned in that direction. She was there, illuminated in the light coming in from the doorway. He pushed away from the wall, his hand automatically moving towards his weapon before he remembered that it wasn't there - they'd been asked to leave weapons behind for their visit.
"I'm sorry," she said. She took a step towards him. "I thought this might happen. When I realised that you could see me, I thought..." She paused, and frowned. "I figured I'd best wait, just in case."
"Who are you?" he asked, moving from fear to anger. "What's going on?"
"You're no one to them," she said sadly. "It happens, sometimes, when people can see."
"See what?"
"See me, or others like me." She shrugged. "No one knows why. Just, all of a sudden, people you knew, family - they'll see you in the street and walk right past you. Most times, they don't even see you." She laughed, but it wasn't a joyful sound. "If you grab them, force them, then they'll see you, but it doesn't matter, because they don't know you. It's like you've become a ghost."
"But..."
"I'm sorry," she said again.
He shook his head. "How?" he asked, his voice trailing away as his anger dissipated.
"I'm not sure how it works."
"I don't belong here. I'm from Enterprise..."
"I know," she said. "You don't belong here. None of us did, when it happened to us. But you can't go back. Even if you try, it won't work. You're no one."
He heard voices, and then people rushing by the building. One set of footsteps stopped, and he saw the beams of torches as someone looked in, the lights flashing across his body, and that of the woman, clearly illuminating each of them. Then the torch switched off, and he heard the searcher move away.
"See?" she said. "They don't even see you unless you walk right up to them and force them."
Malcolm nodded, remembering the scene in the building, the guide, and Trip...He turned away from her.
He heard her soft whisper from behind him. "I'm sorry."
He stepped through the door, needing some air, a moment to clear his head, to compose himself. As he stood there, security rushed directly by him, almost brushing his arm they were so close. They had to have seen him, he thought. How could they not?
He felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Come on," she said. "I know a place where you can sleep for the night."
"At least tell me your name," he said in resignation.
"Malla."
x-x
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