Chapter Six

Kelly teases the crew.

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The results of the second round of the competition were to be announced at 1600 on Friday, and well before then there was a crowd gathering outside the mess hall. Kelly decided to do something different this time. Instead of displaying the ten finalist's photos, she had covered them over so that they could be revealed one by one. But she refused to begin until Malcolm was there.

She commed engineering. "Kelly to Commander Tucker."

"Tucker here. What's up, Kelly?"

"Do you think you could persuade the lieutenant to stop working for a few minutes and come to the mess hall, please?"

"I believe he's in the middle of something complicated. Can't you manage without him?"

"Well, yes sir, we could. But it will be much better if he's here."

"OK. I'll have him there in five minutes. Tucker out."

As good as his word, a few minutes later Trip ushered a somewhat reluctant Malcolm through the doors.

"I really don't know why I have to be here, Trip," he complained. "I do have a job needing my attention."

"Aw, gee, Mal, the job can wait a few minutes. Just get into the spirit of the thing, will you?" Trip gave him a playful punch on the shoulder and urged him to the front of the crowd. "Don't you want to see if number forty-two's a finalist?"

"That's the only familiar face I want to see up there."

Kelly called for order and announced, "I'm going to uncover the finalists one by one, just to make it a little more interesting."

She went to the first photo and took off it's covering. It was number two. Number eleven followed and then numbers twenty-five and twenty-eight. The next to be revealed was number forty-two. A cheer went up around the hall then, as everyone knew that she was Malcolm's choice. Then Kelly proceeded to unveil the rest. Next came number fifty-three, then fifty-five, - then it was number eighty-one. There were howls of dismay as people realised that Malcolm wasn't there. He was seventy-three!

Trip was very disappointed, but Malcolm visibly relaxed. He was off the hook.

Eight photos had been uncovered so far, and Kelly went to uncover the ninth, number ninety-two. Finally, Kelly reached up to the last one, but people were turning away. They had lost interest.

Seeing them leaving, Kelly called out. "Are you sure you don't want to see this one?"

Most turned back, but they were barely interested. Trip and Malcolm had started for the door, but turned around at Kelly's words.

She dramatically removed the covering from the final photo, and yes, you've guessed it, it was number seventy-three!

"I was just saving the best till last," she protested, when she could be heard over the cheering that had suddenly erupted in the room.

Malcolm looked shocked. He'd been so sure he wasn't a finalist, that now, to discover after all that he was, he was speechless. Trip, on the other hand, was overjoyed, and he let everyone know it. He jumped up and down whooping with sheer delight. His pleasure was infectious. Soon the whole mess hall was jumping. Malcolm sat at a table watching the antics of his shipmates, wondering if the whole crew had gone mad. Then he saw Captain Archer standing by the door with a huge grin on his face. There was no way he could get out of it now!

When Kelly checked the voting slips for the final round she was not surprised to find that there were eighty-two votes for number seventy-three and one for number forty-two! She sent the figures off to the competition organiser feeling quite pleased.

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