CHAPTER 8

They'd gone together to the access hatch. At no time had Malcolm turned his back on Trip. Hoshi knew Malcolm didn't trust the engineer, and she wondered why Malcolm hadn't shot him and been done with it.

The rage she could feel coming from Malcolm scared her. She held her tongue, not wishing to provoke him further. But she couldn't believe he wasn't doing anything about what had just happened. Did he believe what Trip had said about her being hysterical? Did he think she was lying about Trip and the captain plotting together to kill him?

Malcolm hadn't said a word as Trip had climbed the ladder and exited through the hatch. He'd grabbed her arm as she started for the ladder after Trip had gone through the opening.

"We still need to get the things we came down here for," he said, and had motioned for the guards above to close the hatch.

When they arrived outside the armory again, Malcolm took a moment to check the still unconscious Captain Archer. "He'll have a hell of a headache when he wakes up," he said in a monotone.

Jonathan wasn't the only one, Hoshi thought. All the tension of the last hour or so was building up behind her eyes, and she could feel a headache of her own coming on. She seriously doubted she'd be in the mood if, like he usually did, Malcolm wanted sex when they got back topside.

As it was, she was feeling strange. She should have been nervous and jumpy, but instead she was hoping someone would challenge them. With a start, she realized she would welcome a fight at this point. A tendril of fear touched her as she wondered if she was beginning to feel the madness herself. She tried to tell herself it was only a reaction to everything that had happened.

They got the pieces of the scanner from the armory, then moved on to the storage bay for the solder. The last thing they did was check the emergency locker, but the ration packs were gone.

"I expected that," Malcolm said. "The people down here are daft, not stupid."

He sounded angry, but not as much as he had been during the confrontation with Trip. Hoshi fervently hoped Malcolm was cooling off.

They made their way back to the ladder and out through the access hatch without any problems. Considering all the noise they'd made, especially in the confrontation with Trip, Hoshi was surprised they hadn't seen any of the below-decks residents. Then again, maybe the noise had scared them off. That, and the captain's body in the corridor outside the armory.

Neither Trip nor T'Pol were anywhere to be seen, either, when they clambered out the hatch.

Without a word, Malcolm handed his pistol and the bag with the items they'd procured to one of the crew standing guard. He glanced at Hoshi, his expression indicating he'd brook no argument, and turned on his heel. She had no choice but to fall in behind him after handing over her pistol to one of the guards.

If Malcolm expected everything to be like usual when they got back to their cabin, he had another thing coming, Hoshi thought, her temper rising.

Sure enough, she hadn't even turned around from shutting the door after entering their cabin when she felt his hands on her. Shrugging him off, she stepped aside and faced him, her arms across her chest.

"Not now. Not until we get some things straightened out," she said.

"What are you talking about?" Malcolm asked, confusion, desire, and anger all warring on his countenance. "What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me?" she asked. "Shouldn't that be what's wrong with you? You let Trip go! He tried to have you killed, and you act like nothing's wrong."

She started to pace. Malcolm watched her from hooded eyes as her tirade continued.

"I don't understand you, Malcolm," she said. "Any other time you would have welcomed the opportunity to rip him limb from limb."

Malcolm's eyes narrowed even more. "You think I'm crazy, don't you? You're like everybody else onboard. 'We need Malcolm, but don't trust him.' That's what they say, isn't it?"

Hoshi had no answer for that, because it was basically true. "Malcolm--"

"I'm not crazy!" he shouted, crossing the distance between them in two quick steps. He grabbed her by the upper arms and gave her a shake. "I may be stressed, I may be angry, I may be jealous as bloody hell, but I AM NOT CRAZY!"

His mouth plunged down over hers, taking what he wanted forcibly. She fought him for only a moment before giving in. She loved him too much, even if he was angry.

Even if he was crazy.

She knew something was wrong with him, no matter how much he denied it or tried to fight it. The madness was in him. Most of the time he could hold it in check. The few times he couldn't, she was his savior, there to soothe him and keep him sane.

She couldn't not help him this time. This was the worst she'd ever seen him. He'd never screamed at her before.

He guided her to the bunk, his mouth dominating hers the entire way. Hoshi felt her anger being overridden by desire, and gasped as her legs hit the bed, causing her to fall backward. Malcolm fell down with her, shifting at the last moment to avoid crushing her beneath him. She ripped at his clothing as he clawed at hers.

He had just peeled away her uniform top when the door chime sounded. Hoshi stilled, and Malcolm growled, "Ignore it!"

The chime sounded again, breaking her mood.

"Get off me!" she said, pushing him to the side.

Malcolm snarled but moved out of the way. Hastily putting her arms back into the sleeves of her uniform, she made her way across the cabin. She zipped up and ran her hands through her hair in a futile attempt to straighten it before opening the door.

Any words she would have said died on her lips when she saw who was on the other side.

"Hi, darlin'. Just checkin' on you two."

"Go away!" she said furiously.

She tried to slide the door shut, but Trip put his foot in the way. Looking over the top of her head at a disgruntled Malcolm propped up on one arm on the bed, he said, "I see he's about the same as usual. Don't know how ya put up with it."

Trying to shove him back out the door, Hoshi hissed, "What are you doing? Are you trying to get him to kill you?"

Trip laughed, a low and dangerous sound. "Oh, I've figured him out. He won't kill me." Reaching out, he chucked her under the chin. "See ya around, darlin'."

After one last taunting glance at Malcolm, Trip stepped back, and Hoshi was able to slam the door shut.

Turning to Malcolm, she asked, "What did he mean -- he's got you figured out?"

Malcolm fell onto his back on the bunk and tossed his arm over his eyes.

"Malcolm! What did he mean?" she insisted, walking to stand by the bed where she could look down at him.

"Despite what everyone thinks," Malcolm said softly, "I'm not crazy."

When Hoshi didn't say anything, he took his arm away from his eyes. He looked straight at her, and she could see that he was lucid.

"I don't trust Trip in the slightest," he said. "I haven't ever since I realized he's been coming on to you. A friend wouldn't do that. The jealousy and hurt have been eating me up inside."

"Oh, Malcolm," Hoshi said, sitting down on the bunk next to him and taking his hand in hers.

"There have been times I've felt like I wanted to kill him," Malcolm admitted. "But Enterprise needs him too much. If we ever hope to get out of this area of space, it will be because of some idea that Trip comes up with. He's a brilliant engineer."

Hoshi was immensely relieved at Malcolm's attitude. Then, without warning, she saw the madness come creeping back into his eyes.

"I'll have to wait until we're out of here before I kill him," he said, his calm, matter-of-fact tone making his words even more unnerving.

Hoshi sat in stunned silence for several moments, trying to make sense of something, anything.

"But...he tried to have you killed," she said finally, focusing on the one thing that scared her more than Malcolm admitting he would deliberately commit murder. "The same thing that's wrong with everyone who is below-decks is wrong with Trip. He should be locked up with them."

She rubbed her forehead with her free hand. She wasn't so sure she wasn't going mad herself. The situation was beyond bizarre.

Malcolm shut his eyes and gave her hand a squeeze. "I know he should be locked up. But as long as he can function up here, we've got to let him. He's our only hope of getting back to where we belong."