CHAPTER 7

Malcolm swung his legs over the side of the biobed and sat up. His head hurt even more in this position than it did when he was lying down. He wasn't about to spend the rest of the day lounging around in sickbay, however. It didn't matter how tempting it was to use being stunned as an excuse to be away from Violet, he wasn't staying in sickbay.

He'd been shot with one of his own phase pistols -- in his own armory! He could hardly believe it.

But there was one thing of which he was one hundred percent certain -- that woman was a bloody menace.

Malcolm carefully slid off the bed, glancing about to make sure no one was around. If he could sneak out and get to the turbolift before the doctor returned from whatever errand he was on, he could hole up in his office in the armory and lick his wounds, figuratively speaking.

Besides, if he worked this right, it would only bolster his already formidable reputation among his staff. So he'd been stunned by a weapons expert. Big deal! He had been down for only a few hours and then was right back at work as if nothing had happened.

And if he was lucky, Hoshi would be stuck with Violet the rest of the day. He'd had more than enough of Violet for one day. To appease his conscience which was clamouring that he was being seriously negligent of his assignment, he decided he'd comm Hoshi when he got to his office and make sure everything was under control. If Hoshi wanted to think he was calling from sickbay, he wouldn't disabuse her of that notion.

As he let himself out of sickbay, a sly grin was on his face as he anticipated the surprised looks of his staff when he showed up in the armory.

Malcolm walked into the armory and looked around. Someone had picked up the phase pistols from the work table and put them away. That was good. He liked to keep his department tidy.

"Sir?"

Malcolm turned to find Foster, who had been present when Violet had stunned him, gazing at him in concern.

"Should you be here?" Foster asked, coming over from a work station to stand by him.

"I work here, Foster," Malcolm said with a sardonic smile. "And it takes more than a phase pistol on stun to keep me down for long. What are you working on?"

Foster handed him a padd. "Routine maintenance of the torpedo targeting sensors."

Malcolm glanced at the screen on the padd. Everything seemed to be within acceptable parameters. Handing the padd back, he said, "Carry on," and moved off toward his office.

Once he got settled, he'd comm Hoshi in her cabin. She was probably holed up there with Violet since they believed him to be incapacitated for the rest of the day. And then after that, he would enjoy the peace and quiet of the familiar,safe environment of his office.

Or perhaps he should go back to sickbay, he thought as he opened the door to his office and saw who was inside.

Hoshi looked up calmly from where she was seated at his desk. A stifled gasp came from Violet, sitting in the other chair in his office.

Too late to alter course now -- they'd seen him. Stepping in, he shut the door behind him, aware that his headache had ratcheted up a notch. "What are you two doing here?" he asked irritably.

"The captain told us to come here," Hoshi said, tapping her fingers on the desk. "Are you all right?"

"No," he snapped. Glaring at Violet, he said, "Someone shot me with a phase pistol."

Violet opened her mouth, no doubt to apologize, but Malcolm cut her off.

"Don't say it! I know it was an accident," he said. Rubbing his forehead, he added, "I was there, remember?"

Violet made a little whimpering sound, and Malcolm's irritation lessened a bit. She really was rather helpless. He should have known better than to let her handle a phase pistol.

He must have shown some sign of how wretched he was feeling, for Hoshi sprang up from the desk chair and practically ordered him to sit down. He almost told her not to bother, but they were in his office after all, and he'd been the one who'd been shot. He sank into his chair with a grateful sigh. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to relax and ease the tense muscles that were knotted at the back of his neck.

"So, since you're here now, I guess that means I can leave," came Hoshi's voice from the other side of the small office.

His eyes flew open to glare at Hoshi who was now standing by the door. She had moved so quietly that he hadn't heard her.

"Not so fast," he said evenly, and was gratified to see her slump back to lean against the door. "We need to talk."

Hoshi's gaze flicked to Violet and back to him.

"Yes, in front of Violet," he said, reading the implied question in her expression. He almost got to his feet but remembered how atrocious he felt. Putting his elbows on the desk, he steepled his hands and let his gaze roam from Hoshi to Violet and back again.

"Miss Bloom's only been here a day," he said to Hoshi, "and this situation has turned into a circus. I'm beginning to think that perhaps we should hide her away."

He shifted his gaze to Violet, who seemed heartened by his words.

"But we can't," he said, causing Violet's face to crease with worry lines again. "Any reason I can come up with for her to stay in your quarters just brings up more problems. She supposedly made a long trip to get here to do field test prep work. So why would she stay away from the place where the work is to be done?" He paused, thinking. "We could say she's taken ill, but then Phlox would be called in."

"Couldn't we tell Phlox?" Hoshi asked.

Malcolm shook his head. "Not without the captain's permission. Keep in mind Starfleet ordered us to keep Miss Bloom's presence on board as quiet as possible. Do you want to be the one to ask the captain if we can increase the number of people who know, especially since how we're handling this is your idea?" he asked Hoshi.

"Not really."

"It's an option to keep in mind," Malcolm admitted. "In the meantime, I'm willing to continue this...charade...as long as possible." He turned in his chair to face Violet. "I know this has to be very unsettling for you. But I think if you make an effort, we can still pull it off, and no one will be the wiser. Do you think you can do that?"

Violet's eyes, so wide that the whites showed around the irises, darted to his face. She must have found something to reassure her -- or bully her, Malcolm couldn't tell -- for she dropped her gaze and nodded.

"From now on," Malcolm continued, "you'll stay in this office during my duty shift. I'll be right outside in the armory. Hoshi, you can come and go as needed. Off duty, we'll put in an appearance at mealtimes in the mess hall, but other than that, you two can stay in your quarters. Are we agreed?"

Hoshi had carefully kept her expression neutral while he'd been talking, and Malcolm couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"I probably should head back up to the bridge," Hoshi said, pushing away from the door upon which she'd been leaning.

She'd probably been looking forward to her Violet-free shift, Malcolm realized, but that had fallen by the wayside in the wake of his being gunned down in his own armory. Now she was being offered an unexpected reprieve.

Her hand on the door latch, she hesitated. "But what if Phlox tracks you down and orders you back to sickbay?"

Malcolm's eyes narrowed. "He may track me down, but there's no way I'm going back to sickbay."

Hoshi seemed satisfied with that answer. He told her he'd take Violet back to their quarters at the end of his duty shift. Unfortunately, it wasn't until after Hoshi left that he remembered something he was going to ask her.

Turning to Violet as he got to his feet, he said, "I meant to ask Hoshi is she could find something for you to do in here to help pass the time. Maybe some books to read."

"I...I'd appreciate that," Violet said softly, her eyes downcast.

"Will you be all right in here by yourself for a few hours?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Fine," he said, vaguely annoyed that she wouldn't look him in the eye.

As he left, he decided he might give Foster a hand with the targeting sensors. Anything, he thought, except maintenance on the phase pistols.

Hoshi walked onto the bridge and immediately was aware of the tense atmosphere. Jon was seated in his command chair, looking in T'Pol's direction, as were most of the bridge crew. Passing by T'Pol, Hoshi glanced over at the panel behind the science console and saw a display of sensor readings on one of the screens.

Hoshi waved away the crewman filling in for her and sat down at the communications console. Jon got out of his chair and approached her station. "Where's Ensign Smith?" he asked in a low voice.

Checking over the settings on her console, Hoshi replied softly, "She's in the armory. Malcolm is with her -- he checked himself out of sickbay." Glancing up at him, she asked, "What's going on?"

"We're picking up a sensor echo that comes and goes on the long-range scanners. It could be another ship trying to shadow us," he said. Straightening up, he added in a louder voice, "See if you can pick up anything on communications frequencies."

"Aye, sir," she said and got to work.

As Jon returned to the command well, T'Pol looked up from her console. "It's gone," she said.

Jon looked over at Hoshi, and she knew exactly what he was thinking. An unidentified sensor echo could be almost anything, but considering who their special passenger was, it could be trouble.