Chapter Five
Ferengi
When the men exited the building, Trip was relieved to see that there was no body lying in the street. He had doubted there would be. Someone, he was sure, would have taken the unfortunate woman away.
As he thought this, he realized his hope was more to ease the sting of his own conscience, and the bites from the women inside the house; things he did not want to admit but that he had to admit were painfully true.
They turned toward the far end of town, and in his efforts not to notice anything amiss that would sting his conscience more, he could not help but seek out that disturbance, much as he did not want to find the spot. Perversely, his very efforts not to see it caused him to find it with unerring accuracy.
He stopped dead, looking down at the packed dirt road before him. In that one small area were concentrated various fresh scuff marks of boots, and many large and small patches of fresh, red blood.
O'Cathain turned, seeing Tucker riveted, unable to tear his eyes away from the damning sight which seemed to shout accusation deeply into his tortured soul.
"Could I have prevented this?" Trip asked his friend, unable to look away from the blood.
"This? Yes." Tucker's eyes met his in a flare of anger O'Cathain did not acknowledge. "The next one? No."
"I could have stopped her pain."
"But you can't change a world, and that's the hard lesson. Plus, what if our action had the result of flaring back on Hoshi and Tia? We can't change a world, but we can't fight a world either – and as Commander you have to consider the people in your care."
Trip sighed. "Regulations can be comforting to the conscience, can't they?" He asked, bitterly.
"No, sir. I've never found that they can."
"I'd love to have come charging out of there, phase pistols blazing, and restore law and order to Dodge. But then do we just ride off into the west, into the sunset?"
"Technically that'd be the northeast." The Astrometer reminded him.
It helped to also remind him that they were not on Earth.
x
As they resumed their trek Trip looked around them at the various people going about their own business, oblivious to the human 'aliens' in their equally human midst. The clothed men and naked women paid them no mind, not even 'seeing' them, despite their uniforms. "Seamus, tell me something. Have I really grown too comfortable with things on Enterprise?"
Seamus hesitated, not sure how to answer that. Tucker had regained control of his temper, and he did not want to say anything that would make matters worse; or even remind him of how bad it had been. "Sir?"
"I'm talking about things on Enterprise. Is Hoshi right? Do we use the rank system to keep the women down? I've never thought much about rank on Enterprise. It honestly never occurred to me that there were no women above Ensign. Everyone works together. I always thought we worked very smoothly. But have I just ignored things, or have I just not seen what's been under my nose for two years? Do we operate, I don't know, a 'men's club'?"
"I've never been one for counting silver pips. We've got eighty five people aboard. We're too small a group to worry about things like that."
"That's the way I've always seen it. It honestly never occurred to me that there would be this issue of rank. We're too small a group, work too closely together, to let this matter."
"I've been a Lieutenant for six years. How long have you been a Commander?"
Trip shrugged. "A little longer."
"It's easier for us who have rank to forget about it, than it is for those without it. I can tell anyone from a Lieutenant who was promoted a minute after me on down what to do, within Regulations. I have a hard time sometimes remembering when I couldn't."
Trip shook his head. "This is getting us nowhere." But he seemed not to be moving on either.
After a moment of silence, O'Cathain asked; "Sir?"
"What is it?"
"What do you intend to do about Hoshi?" He immediately regretted it when he saw the anger return to Tucker's eyes.
"She crossed the line. Several times in fact. I'm all for open input and communication, but not insubordination. And she was insubordinate, blatantly so."
"Yes, sir. I have to admit she was, but I'll ask you to consider the inordinate amount of stress she's under, that she's been under for quite a while."
"I did. That's why she's just on Report, and I said I'll deal with things when I'm back on Enterprise. I was too mad then. I'd have busted her down to civilian and locked her in the brig!"
xxx
Not a word more was said between the two men as they continued their trek to the low hills at the far edge of the town, to the place where Rodd and Beri had their sprawling establishment.
Tucker, wanting to get a better view of the layout, bore to his right, intending to approach the huge warehouse from the rear.
As they circled the building, hidden by low hills, and were about to clear the final rise, Tucker stopped. "Listen." O'Cathain stopped as well, listening carefully in the quiet, but all he could hear was a faint, almost inaudible hum. "Son of a Bitch!" Tucker exclaimed, starting to run. He cleared the rise about two meters before the Astrometer, and instantly dropped down into a crouch.
Before them and slightly to their left was the rear of the warehouse, a single wide door open. To their right was a copper colored ship consisting of a semi-cylindrical unit from which two graceful curved 'arms' protruded forward, looking as though they would stretch to meet. Set beyond these, furthest to the right, was the source of the low hum; Shuttlepod Two.
From under the rear of the ship, a pair of legs protruded. "Son of a Bitch." Tucker repeated feelingly. "No wonder Beri knew the kind of parts we needed – he already had an order in for them."
"That guy must have moved the pod using his own ship."
"From the sound of that engine, he's practically got it fixed."
O'Cathain drew his phase pistol. "So, let's retrieve our property." Tucker put a restraining hand on the pistol.
"No, not yet. You want to start a shooting war? Look, go back and get the girls. Tell them to haul ass back here."
O'Cathain chuckled. "I think I'll rephrase that."
"You do that. Run!"
He ran.
x
Tucker watched tensely, laying flat on his stomach at the top of the low rise about thirty meters from the ships as the man continued to work under the pod. He thought the other was out of his mind, performing maintenance on a system that was under power, but at least it allowed the Chief Engineer to track the progress of his work. He knew from the varying sounds and tones, frequency and pitch, just how close to proper calibration the ship was, and he had to give grudging respect to a right masterly piece of work. He might even admire the man if the other were not trying to steal his ship.
Just before the thief could finish, the rest of the Enterprise crew returned with their supplies, getting down low beside Tucker. "Anybody see you?" He asked with a tight smile.
"The whole town saw us." O'Cathain replied. "We created quite a stir running pall mall across town, but no one pursued us. They've either got a laizze faire attitude; or its just every man for himself."
"Whatever it is, I'll be glad to leave it. That guy's almost done." As if on cue, the pair of legs led a shimmying body out from under the pod, and their owner stood up. He was about 1.5 meters tall, bulbous body, bulbous nose and the biggest pair of ears three of them had ever seen. "Son of a Bitch!" Tucker cursed again.
"What?"
"That's one of those fellows who looted the Enterprise a couple of months back. Either that or their ugly brother."
"I never did see them." O'Cathain replied. "But remember Krenim mentioned that the 'Ferengi' do a lot of business here. He might be a 'Ferengi'."
"Makes sense. Greedy bastards, they were." The little man went into the warehouse with a hobbling walk, and came out again a few moments later. Fortunately, he did so alone.
"I can get him from here, Commander." O'Cathain offered, starting to pull out his phase pistol. But before Trip could answer, Hoshi surprised them all by standing up.
"I can get him from there." She declared quietly, starting down the grassy hill as the others stared at her, astonished.
"Son of a…" Trip started, but could not finish.
x
The Ferengi, halfway between the two ships, stopped in equal surprise as Hoshi cleared the top of the rise and started down toward him, approaching with a slow, sensuous movement so blatantly sexual it could have flummoxed a Vulcan Elder.
As she walked, Hoshi added an extra sway to her hips, an extra sensuality to her walk, and her hands came up to cup and caress her breasts as if in offer, her thumbs lightly stroking her nipples into erect response. Tucker watched her, mouth gaping in shock, unable to speak. Beside him O'Cathain was muttering a long string of Gaelic curses as Hoshi reached the Ferengi.
She reached out, her hands stroking his huge ears sensuously. The touch had a startling and profound effect on the alien. He had been about to reach for her but stopped instantly, overcome with sensation. Hoshi continued to caress his ears, and the expression on the smaller creature's face went from surprise to ecstasy. He let out an impassioned groan that carried all the way up the hill.
"I'll be damned." Tucker whispered as more of the creature's ecstatic responses filled the air, and he seemed to be having a great deal of trouble standing. Hoshi's body was moving in sympathetic accord, undulating against him, and it looked to the three watchers as though she was enjoying it almost as much as he was. "Let's go."
They got up, bringing their supplies and approaching the 'pod and the distracted couple. The Ferengi fell to his knees, unable to stand, and Hoshi stayed with him, fondling his ears sensuously, her own cries of mounting lust providing an underscore as the Ferengi's increased in pitch.
As Trip and Tia passed the couple, neither able to believe their eyes, the Ferengi fell helplessly to his back, Hoshi riding him down to lay atop him, continuing to manipulate his ears as the creature's lustful cries grew louder, more strident, and Hoshi's followed along, her chest heaving in simulated orgasmic passion. O'Cathain, barely able to tear his eyes off the outrageous scene, dashed toward the copper colored ship, vanishing inside it. Trip and Tia made it to the 'pod and stowed their gear, Trip rushing to the controls. A quick check showed everything on the green, all ready for launch.
O'Cathain hurried out of the Ferengi's ship about thirty seconds later, rushing for the pod as the creature writhed about on the ground, his cries reaching almost screaming proportions and Hoshi kept her own hot cries carrying right along with his as she lay upon him, seemingly writhing in ecstasy. As O'Cathain stopped beside them, looking down at his beloved, eyes wide in outraged consternation, the Ferengi's writhing body passed a summit and he convulsed upon the ground, Hoshi reaching an almost screaming 'response' seconds before the creature lay still, unconscious on the grass. Hoshi looked up at Seamus with a grin.
"Are you quite through?" He demanded. With a laugh, Hoshi was up and running for the door.
x
The Shuttlepod took off with alacrity. "All the readings are good. Better yet, everything sounds right," Trip explained as they started to clear the planet's ionized atmosphere, "but I want to get onto Enterprise before we have any more surprises. I intend to give this 'pod a thorough going over before I'll trust it again." He looked at Seamus in the co-pilot's seat. "What did you do on his ship?"
"I screwed up his Astrogation system. No damage, but it'll take him about half an hour to recalibrate. By then we'd be long gone."
"Your mouth to God's ear." As they left the atmosphere, the light blue of the forward plates darkened, and the stars came into view. With the charged atmosphere behind them, he opened up a communications channel. "Enterprise, come in." A few seconds later, the welcome voice of Jonathan Archer came from the speaker.
"We read you, Trip. We were getting worried."
"No problems here, Cap'n. How's the ship?"
"We took a few jolts, but we weathered the storm. You shouldn't be too busy."
"Glad to hear it."
"I have them, sir." O'Cathain reported. "Bearing 147/23/269. Distance 11,523 kilometers." That put the huge starship at a considerably higher orbit and behind them.
"Enterprise, we'll rendezvous with you in 13 minutes. Tucker out." He started to turn the ship in a leisurely maneuver. When they were going in the right direction, the approaching starship was invisible in the distance against the backdrop of stars.
In the rear section, Hoshi Sato stood up and went to the spacesuit locker, taking out one of the copper colored suits for herself, the other for Tia. She passed the second to her friend, who accepted it with a look of disgust. "What's wrong?"
Tia shook her head. "It just that so often is from a planet back I come, this thing must I wear." She said, recalling the aborted survey mission on Elanis IV that she, Liz Cutler and Travis Mayweather had endured.
"Not every time." Hoshi contradicted, preparing to step into the legs of her suit. "Only the interesting times." At least this time, no helmet would be needed.
"Speaking of which, Hoshi, you did good." Trip said.
"Thank you." She said, relieved. The last words he'd said to her on the planet, he had been ready to bite her head off.
"But whatever gave you the idea?"
"It was something I read once." She explained, pulling the lower half of the suit up past her hips. It felt so good to be dressing again. "'In any negotiation, a naked woman always has the advantage'. Trip looked back in surprise, but she smiled, and seeing her still topless as she was he found he could hardly contest the point. "Then, when you recognized that this was one of the same race as the three that had looted Enterprise a couple of months ago, I recalled Sub-Commander T'Pol's report about something they called 'oomlox' and how she used it to 'distract' one of them."
"But how you could?" Tia asked. Hoshi turned to her, noting the younger woman had not started dressing yet.
"Oh, their ears are very sensitive, and are an erogenous …"
"Nyas! How you could?" She insisted, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
"Oh, easy. I just kept concentrating on Seamus." Up front, Trip glanced at the Astrometer's head, particularly his normal, human sized ears. The two men exchanged a look, and a mystified shrug. Hoshi continued her explanation to Tia. "He also has something huge that he loves to have stroked."
Up front, Seamus concentrated very hard on the controls before him, Trip shaking his head in consternation. "Ooh-Kay! That's more information than I needed to know!"
Trying to ignore the giggling coming from the rear, he cut in the thrusters.