CHAPTER 4

Malcolm had accompanied Hoshi to the flight field for her trip before he went to the Morning Star. He'd held every door for her, had carried her suitcase, and had asked several times if she was feeling all right. She hoped his constant solicitiousness would ease up soon. Right now, it was cute, but more than seven months of it would get on her nerves.

During the trip to Lanari on the commercial passenger liner, Hoshi's mind kept wandering back to the evening before, and Malcolm's reaction to her surprise announcement. Once he'd gotten over his initial shock, he'd been ecstatic.

For once they hadn't been interrupted by anything -- not Klingons, or chief engineers, or clinic personnel. They'd enjoyed an intimate evening alone, a new depth to their love-making with the realization of something they'd created together growing in her.

She sighed happily as she settled more comfortably into her passenger seat. It would take several hours to reach Lanari. Even though she knew she probably should be reviewing her upcoming presentation, she began to think about baby names again.

Malcolm was in engineering going over the specs for the phase cannons with Trip when the intercom whistled, followed by his name being paged.

He walked over to the comm panel by the hatch and pushed a button. "Reed here," he said.

"A Klingon ship has just assumed orbit and is keeping station with us," came the voice of his second-in-command, Mark Orwell. "The captain is...requesting...that we allow him to beam over."

Malcolm and Trip exchanged amused glances at Orwell's tactful phrasing. They both knew who was hailing. They also knew that the person in question was not requesting -- but demanding -- to be beamed aboard.

"That's fine, Mark. I know who it is," Malcolm said into the panel. "Tell Captain Kleth he's more than welcome to come aboard. I'll go to the transporter room and meet him."

"Aye, sir," Orwell replied.

Before the connection was cut, Malcolm and Trip heard a few choice mutterings from Orwell, a retired Starfleet operations officer.

"He'd better get used to dealin' with Klingons," Trip remarked.

"I heard that," came Slanea's voice from above.

Looking up, the men could see her peering over the rail at them from the upper level.

"I wanna be around when they meet," Trip muttered sotto voice to Malcolm.

"I heard that, too," Slanea said as she climbed down the ladder from the upper level. "Who is this Captain Kleth? It is a Klingon name."

"Kleth is the captain of the Falcon," Malcolm informed her. "He and I are business partners."

Slanea huffed as she reached the bottom of the ladder. "It is bad enough that I had to seek employment outside the Empire. But this Klingon, he must have no honor to form a partnership with a human."

Malcolm's face hardened, and beside him he could see Trip tense as well. No wonder there were so many arguments in engineering between the two. Not only had she just denigrated one of her own species without having met him, but she had slammed the whole human race doing it.

"Slanea," Malcolm said in a dangerously soft tone that signaled he was incredibly ticked off. "I would be careful around Kleth, if I were you. Of all the Klingons I have met, he is the one with the most honor." He stared at her for a moment before adding, "One word of advice -- don't ever bad-mouth him around Hoshi."

Slanea stared after him as he turned on his heel and left engineering. Looking at Trip, she asked curiously, "Who is Hoshi?"

Imagining the cat fights that could occur between the two females, Trip gave her a grin. "Hoshi is Captain Reed's mate, I guess you Klingons would call her."

He started to follow Malcolm, but stopped as if he had thought of something. Turning back, he said, "Oh, and by the way -- Hoshi once commanded the Falcon, the Klingon warbird that's in orbit with us. The entire crew, except for Malcolm and me and Hoshi, were Klingon. Kleth was Hoshi's first officer."

Trip enjoyed Slanea's look of astonishment before he turned away again and hurried to catch up with Malcolm.

The Morning Star's transporter had been installed down the corridor from the engine room. Malcolm stepped up to the controls and keyed in the appropriate sequence to receive the Falcon's beam. In a few moments, Kleth's formidable figure began coalescing on the platform.

Both Trip and Malcolm had to look up to see Kleth's face. They would have had to have done so even if the platform wasn't elevated. Kleth was a good head taller than Malcolm, and was easily twice his weight. Add to that Kleth's dark flowing hair that came down past his shoulders, an impressive beard, and full Klingon battle garb -- Malcolm was glad he and Kleth were friends, because he didn't think he'd survive being his enemy.

"Ma'Com!" Kleth shouted as he stepped down from the platform. He embraced Malcolm in a breath-stopping hug and pounded him on the back.

Pulling back, he looked at the dazed human and said, "You are looking well. This work agrees with you, eh?"

Trip hastily held out a hand to fend off the Klingon as he turned toward him. Kleth wasn't dissuaded at all, and batted Trip's hand away, reaching out to encompass the engineer in another rib-cracking hug.

"It's not just the work that makes Malcolm so happy," Trip croaked when he got his breath back.

Kleth looked back and forth at the two humans. "There is something you are not telling me?" he asked curiously. "Perhaps you have taken your new ship into battle already, and come away victorious?"

"Kleth," Malcolm said, trying not to laugh. "That's not the kind of business we're in."

Kleth shrugged and replied with a straight face, "One can only hope."

"Come on," Trip said. "Let's show ya around."

Kleth nodded, falling into step with Malcolm as Trip led the way. "Where is my mistress?" the Klingon asked as Trip turned down the corridor in the direction of engineering.

"Kleth, you really have to stop calling her that," Malcolm said. "She's my mate, you know. People will start to talk."

"Bah! I do not care about talk."

"I normally don't, either, but there's been a change in our situation," Malcolm said.

Kleth looked at him expectantly, and Malcolm took a deep breath, bracing himself for the Klingon's response. "Hoshi's going to have a baby."

Kleth stopped dead in his tracks, slowly turning his head to look squarely at Malcolm. A sound reminiscent of distant thunder rumbled in Kleth's chest and a grin split his face before he tossed his head back and laughed in delight.

That wasn't so bad, thought Malcolm. Unfortunately, he relaxed his guard too early and couldn't dodge the friendly -- albeit Klingon-strength -- clap on the shoulder that Kleth gave him. To top it all off, Slanea was just coming out the hatch from the engine room when Kleth's hand connected and Malcolm went flying, only to come up painfully against the corridor's bulkhead.

"How dare you assault my captain!" the enraged female Klingon yelled and took off at a run to barrel into a surprised Kleth, knocking him to the deck and pummeling him with her fists.

"No, Slanea! Stop!" Malcolm cried out, rubbing his shoulder. He shot a glance at Trip, who had wisely kept his distance and was watching the tussle with a wide smile.

"I knew there'd be fireworks when those two got together," the engineer said, nimbly stepping to the side as the tussling pair rolled in his direction.

Drawing on his Starfleet training as well as his time spent among Klingons, Malcolm took a deep breath and shouted, "Slanea! Stand down. By order of your captain!"

Slanea immediately stopped struggling with Kleth, although she gave him one last shake before releasing her grasp on his upper arm. She bared her teeth at the Klingon before getting to her feet.

"He attacked you!" Slanea said accusingly to Malcolm.

"No," Malcolm said ruefully, "he was congratulating me."

Kleth was pulling himself up from the floor, a sneer on his face as he looked down from his considerable height at Slanea. "Who is this witch?" he asked Malcolm as he looked her up and down.

Slanea snarled back at him, raising her hand preparatory to strike, and Malcolm stepped between the two Klingons. "She's going to be my chief engineer, if her probationary period is satisfactory," he said.

Kleth flicked his glance over to Trip. "And you don't resent this?" he asked the lanky human.

"Hey, I'm only gonna be here a few months, and while I am, I'm in charge of the refit," he answered smugly. "I also have final say on Slanea's probationary period. So, Kleth, do me a favor -- don't damage her too much."

Malcolm cautiously stepped out from between the two Klingons and took up a stance where he could watch both of them. Kleth's chest was beginning that strange rumble again which meant he was about to laugh, and Malcolm took another step backward, just in case Kleth felt the need to congratulate him again.

He saw several emotions pass over Slanea's face -- typical Klingon irritation as she watched Kleth, but also surprise and calculation after Trip's announcement that he had final say on her probation. He would be willing to bet that Slanea was about to make some changes in her relationship with his interim chief engineer.

"So, you and Hoshi have decided to start your own house?" Kleth asked as they resumed the walk to engineering.

"Actually, I had very little say in the matter," Malcolm remarked, causing Kleth to laugh again.

Malcolm didn't miss the glint in Slanea's eye as they passed her. Just what he needed, he thought with a sigh -- another scheming Klingon.