Malcolm walked briskly through the corridors of Enterprise, happily outfitted once more in his own uniform. After much arguing, Phlox had finally agreed to let him resume his duties and Malcolm felt normal once more. It had taken a couple of days for the motion of the water to wear off, he felt as though he were still bobbing whenever he sat or slept, but it eventually subsided. Other than an even more intense dislike of the water, Malcolm had emerged from the entire incident with little more than mild hypothermia and malnutrition. Today was their last day on Onara and even though he was looking forward to putting the planet far behind him, there was one Onaran he had to thank properly before she left the ship.
He found Dr. BenCour packing her few belongings as she readied herself for the journey back to her planet. Though Earth had offered her amnesty if she wished it, Captain Archer had negotiated her return to Onara, where she would be allowed to observe the rest of the land reclamation project. No charges would be pressed, but she had lost her job as project leader.
"Despite your captain's efforts I fear my career in science is over," Oula sighed.
"Maybe you can try your hand at history." Malcolm held out a datapad for her.
She looked at him questioningly before taking it and studying its contents. "This is…" she shook her head disbelievingly.
"It's all the data I could get from the Molat," he told her. "Everything I could remember, anyway. I also have this," he held out a piece of clothing—the vest he had been wearing when he fell off the Tubat. "Look in the pockets."
Gingerly, she put a hand in one of the pockets and pulled out a handful of strange objects: splinters of wood, a scrap of sail, pieces of rope. The other pockets revealed an even more wondrous treasure: samples of the Molat's scientific research.
"Now maybe you can tell where they were going, where they had been, and eventually what happened to them." Malcolm smiled at her shining eyes. "It's my way of saying thank you, Dr. BenCour."
Oula grinned. "Thank you, Lt. Reed.
Malcolm turned to leave, but paused at the door. "Doctor, tonight is Movie Night here on Enterprise. It's a form of entertainment that is very popular among humans. Would you care to join myself and Ensign Sato for the film?"
"Ah yes, I've been reading about "films" in your database. What are you showing?"
"Commander Tucker chooses them…tonight I believe he's showing Jaws. It's a movie about sharks," he told her.
"Sharks? Aren't they marine predators?" Oula asked.
"Well…yes."
"Your Commander Tucker certainly has a strange sense of humor, not to mention timing. I think I'll pass," Oula grinned.
"Trip's movie choices are widely regarded as one of the immutable mysteries of the universe," Malcolm laughed. "If you change your mind it starts at 1900." He left her quarters and headed off to the mess hall to meet Hoshi for dinner.
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"If this film was intended to inspire my enthusiasm for swimming, it failed," T'Pol said flatly. She and Trip were seated by themselves in the mess hall, discussing the finer points of what the engineer claimed was one of Earth's "finest cinematic treasures". "Why did you choose to show it, in light of recent events?"
"I showed it because of recent events," Trip told her. "It's a story about the primal struggle to survive, and triumph on a level playing field between human and animal."
"Humans are animals," T'Pol pointed out, but Trip ignored this.
"It's about trusting your instincts, and about facing the unknown with bravery and little more than your wits," he went on, "about working together and using ingenuity to face off against brute strength…" he realized T'Pol had left the table. He swiveled to find her just as she emerged from behind him carrying two mugs.
"I apologize, I thought I would be back before you finished. Coffee?" she offered.
He smiled sheepishly and accepted. "I guess I can see why you'd think this movie choice was a little odd. Don't worry, when I teach you to swim it won't be anywhere like that. That is…" he stared at her from over his cup, "if you still want to learn?"
She took a sip of her tea and swallowed thoughtfully. "Despite tonight's movie selection I find that lately I feel…an affinity for the water," she told him carefully. "I look forward to broadening the boundaries of that affinity."
Trip smiled into his mug. He loved it when she talked logical to him. Actually, it was when she used logic to justify doing something that she clearly wanted to do that he loved. It was endearing, in it's own weird way.
"Swimming lessons it is, Nora," he told her.
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Hoshi rubbed her eyes and stifled a yawn as she headed back to her quarters. Though tired, she felt content: Malcolm was back on the ship, her work on the Universal Translator was going well, and they were leaving Onara light years behind. Tomorrow she would try integrating some of her improvements into a working model for the translator—
"Hoshi!" someone called behind her. She turned to find Commander Tucker walking toward her, carrying something.
"I've been looking everywhere for you!" he told her as he approached.
"Can I do something for you, Commander?" she asked.
"No, no, not really. I've just been so busy the past few days I didn't really have a chance to tell you," he took a deep breath. "To tell you how much I appreciate everything you did on Onara. I know, I know," he raised a hand as she began to protest, "it was a group effort. It was, but you were the one that found Malcolm, and kept him calm. You saved us from the whirlpool, too."
Embarrassed, the communications officer flushed and tried to wave off the compliment.
"No, Hoshi, I want to thank you for everything you did. This is for you," he finished, handing her a flat container.
Mystified, Hoshi examined the box before removing the lid. She stared at its contents, confused.
"Commander?" she looked up just in time to see his retreating form turn a corner. "What am I supposed to do with tea towels on a starship!"