Kelly shifted in her seat in the back of the shuttlepod. Malcolm was on the bench next to her, and she was sitting across from two young ensigns, who were talking quietly with on another. Tip and Jon were up front, along with the Vulcan science officer, T'Pol. Kelly had been working with the Vulcans for several years now, and found them to be slightly annoying at worst. She had even learned a thing or two. She couldn't understand why Trip didn't like them, and she knew that Jon believed they had held back her Uncle's warp program. She knew they had, but she knew they had their reasons, and she knew a few of them. The first time she had been in a meeting with Ambassador Seval, he had taken nearly a full hour to try to convince her that the Vulcans didn't have any intentions of holding back the warp program for longer than was necessary. She had then spent a half an hour, explaining that she understood how he felt (she had grimaced at the use of that word) and she also knew how her cousin saw it. She had finally managed to convince Seval that she didn't think like her cousin did though, which was a good thing. T'Pol had been there at one of the conferences she had attended a few years before, and they had spoken for a while about different aspects of science. As the ship left the atmosphere, they hit a patch of turbulence, and the female Ensign across the pod let out a squeak.

"Sorry Hoshi." Jon said as the shaking became more violent. Kelly was almost thrown off the bench, but she grabbed Malcolm's arm, releasing it as soon as they were stable. Jon turned around in his seat. "You all right Kelly?" She nodded, and although Jon thought she looked a little pale, he turned back around. It was Kelly's first time in space since her academy training, so she had a right to be nervous. They docked with the ship, and climbed back aboard. The other Ensign, a young man with skin the color of chocolate, grinned.

"Nothing like the smell of recycled oxygen." He said, and Trip laughed. Hoshi fell back next to Kelly.

"You must be the new Lieutenant." She said. "I'm Hoshi Sato." She said. Kelly shook her hand. "I'm the Communications officer on the ship." Kelly nodded.

"Lieutenant Kelly Archer." She said. "Unsure of what the hell I'm doing here." She said. Hoshi smiled, and laughed softly.

"I heard The Captain and Commander talking." She said. "They said you'll be floating around to wherever people need help, which on this ship should keep you pretty busy." She said with a small smile. They had reached the turbo lift. Jon looked back at Kelly.

"Ensign, why don't you show the Lieutenant around the ship?" Hoshi nodded, and Kelly gave the men a small wave, which only Trip returned. She got a small smile from her cousin before the doors closed.

"Ensign Sato!" Both women turned around to see a heavyset man running toward them. Running wasn't actually the right word. It was somewhere between a jog and a hop. Kelly grinned, he was the doctor, Phlox. "I just spoke with the Captain and he said the new Lieutenant was-" He stopped when he saw Kelly. "Ah, you must be the new Lieutenant." He said with a grin. He took her arm. "According to Starfleet regulations, I have to perform an evaluation." Kelly nodded and allowed Phlox to lead her down the hall as he chattered on. Ensign Sato gave Kelly a wave.

"Doctor, can you bring her to the mess hall when you're done?"

"Of course Hoshi!" He called over his shoulder.

An hour later, Kelly found Hoshi sitting in the mess hall, a tray of food in front of her. Kelly got her own tray, and a bowl of fresh fruit salad. She grabbed an empty bowl and took both to the table. Hoshi looked up as she sat down.

"Archer, huh?" She said. Kelly paused a moment, a piece of strawberry about an inch from her mouth.

"What?"

"You last name is Archer. Are you related to the Captain?" She asked. Kelly nodded, popping the berry in her mouth.

"He's my cousin. Our fathers were brothers." She said, and started putting the pineapple slices in the empty bowl she had picked up. Hoshi eyed her.

"Do you not like the pineapple?" She asked as the door to the mess hall opened. Lieutenant Reed walked in, reading something intently off of a PADD. Hoshi waved to Malcolm, who made no movement to suggest he had seen her as he got himself a cup of tea. "Lieutenant!" Reed still made no movement to indicate he had hear her. "Malcolm!" He looked up and spotted Hoshi and Kelly. He gave them a nod, and strode hesitantly over to the table.

"Evening Hoshi." He said, and glanced at Kelly. "You mind?" She shook her head. He had seemingly been avoiding her for a week, ever since she had walked in on him. She shook her head, swallowing another bite of her fruit salad.

"Kelly, you didn't answer my question." Hoshi said with a sly grin. "Do you not like pineapple?" Kelly shook her head as she scooped another forkful of it into the bowl.

"No, I love pineapple." She said, and was suddenly aware Malcolm had stopped looking at his PADD.

"Then why are you picking it out?" He asked. Kelly grinned.

"Because then I get to eat the pineapple all together." She said. "Makes it taste better." Malcolm opened his mouth to say something, but Kelly continued. "I know it's weird, but-"

"No, I was about to agree with you." He said, interrupting her. "Pineapple's my favorite food." Hoshi was about to say something when the comm panel chirped. Hoshi answered it.

"Hoshi, are Lieutenant Reed and Kelly there?" Jon asked. Hoshi nodded as she replied in the affirmative. "Good, because Trip needs Malcolm in the armory, and I thought Kelly might like to see it." Hoshi nodded.

"They're on their way Captain." She said, and informed Malcolm and Kelly. They got up, Kelly taking her bowl of pineapple with her. They were silent as they walked to the armory, until Kelly spoke.

"Have you been avoiding me?" She asked through a mouthful. Malcolm looked over at her, a look of slight confusion on his face.

"Of course not." He said. "What gave you that idea?" Kelly shrugged.

"I donno." She admitted. "It's just I haven't seen you in about a week-"

"I thought you were avoiding me." Malcolm said as the turbo lift came to a stop. Kelly grinned. "Well, now we know we're not avoiding each other. They strode into the armory, and Trip eyed the bowl in Kelly's hands.

"Caught me in the middle of dinner." She said. "Phlox spent over an hour on the 'routine' physical." She said. Trip grinned, and glanced over at Malcolm.

"The EPS grid's throwing off the phase cannon's alignment again." He said. "This is the fifth time this month alone." Malcolm shook his head.

"Have you tried-"

"I've tried everything I could think of Malcolm, but it's not working." Kelly set down her bowl of pineapple, tuning out Malcolm's and Trip's arguments again. She stuck her head into the conduit and shook her head. Something was wrong, but she couldn't place her finger on it. As she looked father down the conduit, she saw the problem. A switch had been blown clear out of place. If one hadn't known it wasn't supposed to be there to start with, they never would have seen it as something wrong. She reached down into the conduit, but her arm wasn't long enough. She looked over at Trip and Malcolm, and knew it would be useless to try to get either one's attention. A week of listening to them bickering had taught her at least that much. She sighed, and made to pull another covering off, which apparently got Trip's attention. He came up behind her, so she handed it to him.

"What the hell am I supposed to do with this?" He asked, and squirmed when she grabbed his arm, and pulled one of his many tools from an unzipped arm pocket. She ducked inside the conduit, and realigned the switch. She handed the tool to Malcolm, and pointed at the readout screen a few feet away.

"It should be okay now." She said. Handing the cover back to Kelly, Trip looked over Malcolm's shoulder.

"I don't believe it." Trip said. "How'd you do that?" Kelly ignored him, a little miffed by him not believing it. "Kelly, come on." Trip said, and Kelly turned her pale gray eyed to meet his blue ones. They weren't quite as blue as Malcolm's, but they were close. Malcolm turned around behind him and eyed her.

"The Captain said something about possibly having you work some in security." He said, and Trip rolled his eyes.

"Oh no, She's staying in the engine room." Kelly shrugged, and picked up the last spoonful of pineapple.

"You two work it out." She said. "Jon said it'd basically be up to you."

"How about we alternate?" Trip suggested, and Kelly rolled her eyes, striding from the room. She paused, realizing she had no idea where her quarters were. She turned back to the two men.

"Do either of you know where my quarters are?" She asked. Both of them stepped forward, and offered to show her. She rolled her eyes, and finally ended up punching Trip lightly on the arm. He shook his head.

"Well, I think Malcolm can show you from here." He said and took off toward engineering, a grin on his face. Malcolm stopped in front of a door, and pressed the button to open the door.

"The quarters themselves are pretty standard." He said. "Though I believe they're a bit more spacious since you do not have to share." Kelly nodded. "In the armory, before Trip interrupted, I was wondering if you'd mind if I test you a bit. The Captain said you are fairly capable with particle weapons?" Kelly nodded, sitting down on her bed.

"If you're not doing anything, tonight would be fine." She said. "My shift starts at eight tomorrow, so I've got time." Malcolm nodded.

"I'll see you in the gym in about five minutes then?" He asked. Kelly nodded and watched him leave. He always seemed so uncomfortable around her, and she wondered if he was the same way with all women, or if it was just her. He had seemed pretty relaxed around Hoshi, but then again, they'd served together for a few years. She shook her head. Why was she even thinking about this? Even if he was rather good-looking, he seemed so stiff. The perfect good little soldier. She shook her head as she pulled on a pair of white workout pants and a long-sleeved white tee-shirt before heading down to the gym. Malcolm had set up a few hologram projectors, and was firing at some spheres that were flying through the air at an almost ridiculous speed. He didn't glanced up as she walked in. A somber-looking crewman was on a treadmill on the other side of the gym, but otherwise it was empty. When the spheres disappeared, Malcolm put the gun down, his back still to her.

"You want to have a try?" He asked, and Kelly shook her head. She didn't know how he knew she was there. He hadn't even looked at her, or made any indication he had known she had entered the room.

"Sure." She said, taking the gun from him. It was longer than she was used to, and she held it against her shoulder awkwardly. After a moment of her trying to reposition it, Malcolm stepped in front of her, and put one hand on the gun, and one on her shoulder.

"No, you have to position it like this if you want to have any accuracy." He said, shifting the rifle into a different spot on her shoulder. Kelly grimaced.

"That feels weird." She said, pointing the gun at imaginary targets all around the room.

"It should. It doesn't have any recoil, so if you hold it closer to your center of gravity, you have better accuracy.." Kelly nodded, and Malcolm turned on the hologram projectors. "Just try to hit it as many times as you can." He said. The small metallic-looking sphere hung in mid air a second before zooming around the room. Kelly fired at it, but was only able to hit it a few times. After thirty seconds, Malcolm walked over behind her. "You're too tense." He said. Kelly snorted as she raised the rifle again, firing bursts of blue light at the ball. She felt him step up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Relax." He said. Kelly took a few steadying breaths and continued firing. She was closer now, but she still wasn't hitting it. Malcolm's hands left her shoulders and he took a step back. "Good. Now lead the ball a little. Not too much, because it might change direction." Kelly nodded, and tried it. Her next seven hits were right on target. "Good." He said, and a moment later the sphere vanished. Kelly turned around and rolled her shoulder. It ached a little from the butt of the gun being pressed into it. She saw Malcolm was getting down sparring equipment. He handed her a pair of padded gloves, taking a pair for himself. Kelly eyed him as she pulled them on.

"You don't talk much, do you?" She asked. Malcolm shook his head and shrugged.

"Neither do you." He said pointedly. Kelly shrugged.

"Only when I've got something to say." Malcolm nodded. He was getting to like Kelly. After the incident at her house, he had been avoiding her a little. He shook his head as he looked up at her. Her face had a blank look to it, but her gray eyes looked as though she were deep in thought.

"Ready?" She nodded, and her eyes fixed on his face. He lunged out with a right, and she blocked, hitting his arm away, and coming in way a left. He blocked hers, and while he did, her foot came up and hooked around his knee, pulling his left leg out from under him. As he fought to keep his balance, her left glove hit him square in the jaw, sending him spinning into the mat. He got up, a hand to his jaw. "That was impressive." He said with a small smile. Kelly gave him a small smile.

"Just a little something I picked up." She said. Malcolm shook his head.

"I've never seen that move before." He said. Kelly shrugged.

"Last time I saw Jon he showed me a few Kligon moves. I spent some time with a few of the younger Vulcan ambassadors last year. You pick up a few things." She said, ducking Malcolm's punch easily. With him off balance, she grabbed his arm near his shoulder with both hands, and spun him around in an attempt to push him completely off balance. He spun his arm in a circle, breaking her grip on him and folded his arm around her neck, putting her in a headlock.

"That wasn't any martial art I'm familiar with." He said. Kelly's hands were pulling at the skin on his arm, vainly. After about five seconds, she whipped her head back, hitting Malcolm in the chin. His grip loosened, and she kicked him in the back of the knee, ducking out from under his arm. He dropped to the mat, and started to push himself up. She grabbed the arm he was using and pinned it against his chest.

"That's what I picked up from some bar fights." She said with a grin, letting his arm go. She rubbed her neck where his arm had been.

"Bar fights?" He asked. Kelly shrugged.

"Back at in San Diego Trip was a little hotheaded. Had to bail him out more than once." She said.

"You and Trip were in San Diego together?" He asked, picking up a sweatshirt and pulling it on.

She nodded. "Yeah. He was a year ahead of me, I think. Anyway he started hanging around because Jon wanted to make sure I was okay, but one day, we got to talking. We started hanging out more and just became friends I guess." Malcolm nodded, tossing her a water bottle. The steady hum of the warp engine suddenly subsides. The comm chirped.

"Archer to Lieutenant Reed." Jon's voice came over the speaker. Malcolm pressed the button to respond.

"Yes sir?" He replied. Kelly had noticed how formal Malcolm became when the Captain was around.

"We've identified a vessel in this system. It doesn't appear to be moving at all, and we didn't detect any bio signs."

"I'll take a shuttlepod over." Reed replied, and glanced up at Kelly.

"Captain, you mind if I join Lieutenant Reed?" She asked. There was a pause on the other end of the line.

"No, get down and meet Trip and Hoshi in launch bay two."

"Yes sir." Malcolm said.

Five minutes later the four of them were seated in the shuttle pod. Hoshi was looking a little nervous, and kept shifting in her EV suit. "Commander, are you sure that you couldn't just use the UT?" She asked. Trip shook his head.

"No way Hoshi. Besides, I thought you said you didn't mind the suits anymore." Hoshi made a face at him.

"It's not that I mind them, it's that the last time I went to a ship with no bio signs we found fifteen corpses hanging on hooks." She said, and Kelly thought she looked a little green. Reed turned around in his chair, as did Trip.

"Hoshi, there's nothing to be worried about. Malcolm and I'll go in first so you two pretty ladies don't have to be surprised by any corpses on hooks." He said. Kelly punched him on the arm, and he grinned at her.

"You've certainly got a way with words Trip." She said, picking her helmet up and attaching it securely to her suit. The others did the same. "Let's go." Malcolm handed her a phase pistol, which she put securely in the holster on her hip.

"Hey, don't I get one?" Trip asked, only halfway joking. Malcolm shot him a pointed look.

"You couldn't even hit the sphere twice Commander." He said. Trip shrugged, and looked over at Kelly.

"How many times did you hit it?" She shrugged, trying to ignore their bickering again. It was getting a little irritating. "Kell, come on." He said, Kelly rolled her eyes. He was even using her nickname now. Kell. The only people she had ever allowed to call her that were Trip and Jon. She hadn't even let her own parents call her that. Not that it mattered anyway, they'd left when she decided to join Starfleet. The decision that had made Jon so exuberant had made her own parents leave. It was partially because they had seen what it had done to her Uncle. Though his disease had almost nothing to do with Starfleet, she knew they still somewhere deep down blamed them for it. "Kell." She looked up to see Trip eyeing her curiously. "You all right?" She nodded, however stiffly, the suits didn't allow much room for head movement.

"Yeah. Just thinking."

"So how many targets did you hit?" He asked. Kelly sighed as she realizedthat he wasn't goin to leave her alone until she told him.

"In a ten secondor thirty second window?" She asked.

"Ten."

"Sixteen."She turned to see how Hoshi was doing, and was relieved to see that she looked a little less green.

"Does anyone else feel strange?" She asked. The other three looked over at her.

"Now do you mean weird in the claustrophobic sense, or-"

"Or the sense like you've got cobwebs in your brain." Kelly stated flatly, and they all turned their eyes on her.

"Archer to Lieutenant Reed."

"Reed here sir." Malcolm replied as he took a step into the ship, leaving the airlock ahead of the others. No one was talking, and the only thing Kelly could hear was her own breathing inside her helmet.

"Anything interesting going on over there?"

"Nothing to report sir."

"Keep me informed."

"The air should be safe to breathe." Kelly said as they walked past an open door. She grimaced, and put her hand on Trip's, which was starting to open his helmet. "Though I wouldn't recommend it." She pointed to the slabs of raw and rotting meat that were scattered around what appeared to be the galley.

"I'll bet that smells." Trip said, lowering his hand. Kelly looked back at her scanner. "Still no bio-" Malcolm didn't get to finish his sentence. Something knocked him over. It resembled a large turquoise bear, and was growling ferociously.

"Get to the ship!" He shouted. Trip started to move forward, but Kelly grabbed the back of his suit and pulled him back behind her, and turned around.

"Trip, go!" She shouted, pushing him toward a shrieking Hoshi. "Get her to the ship! Archer to the bridge!" She shouted.

"Go ahead!" She hear Jon say, sounding worried.

"There's something here!" She said. "It's got Malcolm!" She could hear him being dragged down the hallway.

"Kelly, get back to the pod."

"But-"

"Kelly, get-"

"Don't make that an order sir." She said, taking off after the creature and Malcolm.

"Cap'n, she's goin after 'im." She heard Trip inform her cousin.

"Kelly-"

"Come on Kell, get back here." That was Trip. She knew Jon would never call her Kell in front of the crew, especially not the bridge crew. She could hear Malcolm shouting down the hall, and kept going. She pulled her phase pistol out of her holster and raised it, aiming at the center of the creature's chest. Making sure it was on stun, she fired. The creature stumbled backward as though stung, though it seemed to have about the effect that a bee would have had. The small amount of pain had only made it angrier.

Malcolm had scrambled to his feet ad was limping down the corridor toward her. "Well, we may have found out what happened to the crew." He said. Kelly fired at the creature again, this time it was set to kill. It had about the same effect that the stun setting had. Malcolm drew even with Kelly as the creature brought it's massive arm down toward the back of his helmet. Kelly pushed him away, and the creature's claws ripped through her suit, biting deep into her forearm. She cried out, and Malcolm turned around, firing at the same time she did. The creature fell to the ground with an earsplitting roar. Holding her wounded arm close to her chest, she let Malcolm pull her down the corridor as it swam in front of her eyes. She tried to keep her legs working, but they folded as they reached the airlock. Trip grabbed her wounded arm at the shoulder, and together he and Malcolm pulled her into the pod. They shut the doors and headed back for the ship. As Trip piloted the shuttle, Malcolm and Hoshi pulled off her helmet. Kelly's vision was beginning to blur. She knew the familiar feeling of unconsciousness taking over her body. She could no longer feel the heavy bleeding limb. Her vision faded to black.