A/N: I'm posting so quickly because I want to get this puppy complete before Christmas. In case you're wondering, there are 17 chapters to this story.

CHAPTER 14

Hoshi and Travis helped Malcolm to the bridge for the next contact by the Blaniats. He was still a little woozy from his near suffocation, but the sandwiches Travis had brought from the mess hall had helped restore his strength.

They hadn't talked much on the way to the bridge. All of them felt a certain amount of excitement, but they were cautiously optimistic. The first information from the Blaniats had explained only how they had come to be here, not how they were going to get out.

Malcolm voiced the opinion that maybe the Blaniats were coming back to finish them off.

"I hope it's not that," Hoshi said. "After all this time, I don't think I could stand it."

Travis muttered a muted "amen" under his breath as he climbed the ladder behind Malcolm.

T'Pol and Trip were on the bridge when they arrived. T'Pol was seated at her science station, adjusting the equipment on the chance that, when the interference cleared up for the Blaniat transmission, some scanner readings might be possible. Trip was by her side, eyeing the trio as they went to their posts.

Seeing Trip standing there looking smug and innocent affronted Hoshi's sense of justice. At the moment, she wished for nothing more than to be the avenging angel Malcolm had spoken of.

And yet she didn't hate Trip. He'd been a trusted friend for years. This area of space had made him do crazy things. She knew he was being influenced by the madness. He wasn't responsible for what he'd tried to do, no more than the crew members down below were responsible for what they had done when they'd been overtaken by the insanity.

That didn't mean she was going to stand by and let Trip kill Malcolm. She wasn't quite sure yet how she was going to stop him. She'd devote her full attention to that problem after they got this business with the Blaniats out of the way.

She gave the engineer a harsh glare as she walked by on her way to the communications console. He smiled at her until he noticed Malcolm's jealous gaze. Trip's smile faded, and he turned and went to the engineering station where he fiddled with some controls.

Certain functions had been routed back to the bridge again in preparation for the Blaniats' arrival. The propulsion command system had been hooked back up to the helm, and the controls for the phase cannons and torpedos had been reconnected to Malcolm's bridge console.

The most bizarre thing was that, even though the bridge was manned for the first time in what seemed like ages, the viewscreen wasn't on. If T'Pol's scans worked, however, Hoshi would be expecting the order to bring the viewscreen to life.

Hoshi took a moment to look at the two men who had accompanied her to the bridge. Travis was running a series of test commands at the helm. He looked hopeful, but Hoshi doubted he'd get to do any flying just yet.

Malcolm, on the other hand, was grim as he worked some controls at the tactical console. He was anticipating the worst. Hoshi didn't blame him, but she hoped it wouldn't come down to a fight. They weren't even sure the weapons would work.

A weapon...that's what she needed to deal with Trip.

Hoshi shook her head. Her attention was wandering, and that wouldn't be prudent right now. She needed to be focused on what was happening. She ran a routine check on the communications console and was pleased when all indicators showed "green."

"How much longer?" T'Pol asked.

Checking the chronometer on her console, Hoshi replied, "Eleven minutes until the next scheduled contact."

With the routine check accomplished, Hoshi had nothing to do but wait. Her mind drifted again, and she found herself gazing at the back of T'Pol's head. She supposed if she were in the Vulcan's place, she would have reacted the same way to the news that her lover was a potential murderer. Unless she had proof positive, she wouldn't be able to believe Malcolm was a murderer, for example.

Her gaze slid over to Trip at the engineering station. As if he was aware of her appraisal, he glanced up from what he was doing. His eyes flicked over to Malcolm, then back to her, and he gave her a supremely confident smile.

She gave Trip a sneer and was gratified to see he was startled by it. That's it, she thought. Let him wonder what she was up to.

Softening her expression to a smile, she switched her gaze to Malcolm. He was so cute when he was preoccupied with his work, head bent over the console, one stray strand of dark hair falling forward.

She didn't want to alarm him, so she wouldn't ask him what he thought would be the best method of disposing of Trip. She'd make her plans without his assistance.

Fortunately, Malcolm kept a spare phase pistol in a case under their bunk. She'd wait until he was asleep tonight before she took it and became his avenging angel.

As the minutes slowly ticked by as they waited for the Blaniats, Hoshi ran through various scenarios. If the Blaniats provided them with information about how to get out of this area of space, Trip would probably have to modify the warp engine in some manner. In that case, she could sneak up on him when he was working late in engineering or, better yet, in some isolated accessway.

Or, she could wait in ambush for him. With a third of the crew below-decks, there were fewer people out and around at any given time. Often the ship's corridors were deserted.

Maybe she should lead him on, let him believe she had changed her mind and was interested in a relationship with him. She could send him a message like the one he had sent her. For some reason, the deceit involved in this method appealed to her. Perhaps it was because he had used a similar deception to lure her to the captain's mess. But where his attempt had failed, hers wouldn't.

"Ensign!"

T'Pol's voice yanked Hoshi's meandering thoughts away from her plotting.

"I'm sorry, Sub-commander," Hoshi said with a serene smile. "I was thinking about something else."

"I asked how much longer until the Blaniats are to contact us."

"Two minutes," Hoshi said.

"Very well," T'Pol said. "Everyone, remain alert. Keep focused on your duties."

Two minutes to the nano-second later, the communications panel beeped with an incoming message.

"Interference has dissipated and the Blaniats are hailing us," Hoshi reported.

"Put it on speakers," T'Pol ordered.

"Enterprise," came the same voice as before. "We are sending more information. We will contact you again in 12 hours."

The channel was cut on the Blaniats' end, and Trip asked in disbelief, "That's it?"

"We are receiving another data burst," Hoshi said as she watched the indicators on her console.

T'Pol, who had stood during the brief audio transmission, strode over next to Hoshi's station. She, too, watched as the information entered the system.

"Perhaps this information has to do with the method they use for propulsion," T'Pol said thoughtfully. "This data burst is much larger than the first one."

Looking up at the Vulcan, Hoshi said, "They're still three days from our position. Do you think they're going to feed us information in bits and pieces the entire time?"

T'Pol exhaled loudly. "It is possible, especially if transmitting is an energy-draining procedure and they must recharge their energy source periodically."

"You know," Trip stated from across the bridge, "that might be the answer. They could be runnin' on battery power of some sort."

Malcolm looked up as the conversation nudged a memory of something he had read. "It could be comparable to the submarines of World War II, before the advent of nuclear power," he said. "They ran on batteries when submerged, and recharged the batteries by surfacing and running on diesel engines."

"A likely comparison, if they do indeed run on some type of stored power," T'Pol commented. "However, I do not see how they could 'surface' in this area of space."

Malcolm shrugged.

"Data burst transmission complete," Hoshi said.

This time, Hoshi was ready. When the indicator light on her console dimmed to signal the end of the transmission, she already had her earpiece out and had cut the speakers. A glance at another gauge on the console showed the interference had returned in force.

"Where would you like me to send this for you to look at, Sub-commander?" she asked.

"The ready room," T'Pol replied, walking in that direction. "Make copies available to each of the other senior staff members right away. I do not believe there is any reason for them to wait to see it."

A stifled exclamation of excitement came from the direction of the engineering console, and all heads turned toward Trip.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "It's just how they get their ship to move has been drivin' me nuts."

There was a long pause as everyone looked at him, and he shifted uncomfortably under their combined scrutiny. "Well, aren't ya at all curious how they do it?"

"I'm sure we all are," T'Pol put in. "However, your choice of words to describe your curiosity was perhaps not the most appropriate."

You're wrong, Sub-commander, Hoshi thought to herself. Trip is nuts, and I'm going to do something about it.

As T'Pol ducked into the ready room, Hoshi began downloading copies to the consoles on the bridge. If any of her fellow officers wanted to read it elsewhere, they could take care of that themselves.

Once that task was accomplished, she settled in for what looked like a longer read than the first transmission from the Blaniats. Then, if there was time, she had another matter to attend to.