Back in the mess hall, Major Reed and the Vissian tactical officer Veylo continued tasting, or in some cases sniffing, Terran food. Some would say they were too close to each other. Regardless, Veylo had something to ask. "Can we visit the Armoury later? I'm anxious to see your tactical array."

"There's an old Earth expression. I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

The end result was that Veylo indeed got access to the armoury and all the weapons of the Terran Empire.

"Are these armed with photonic warheads?"

"Photonic? I'm not familiar with that."

"I'm afraid our weapons are somewhat more sophisticated than yours."

The Terran-centric pride of Reed was stung, but he replied,"This technology must seem pretty antiquated to you. We're working on that."

Stopping by a spatial torpedo, Veylo said, "Where I come from, antiquated can be very quaint."

"Is that how you see us? Quaint?"

Turning to the phase small arms, Veylo said, "And charming. What sort of power source do these use?"

"Sarium micro-cells. I suppose that's very quaint, too."

"Not at all. We charge our weapons the same way."

"Maybe you'd like to see the phase-cannon assembly."

"Please."

Reed unlocked the hatch and gestured to the Vissian. "After you." The fact her trousers were tight did not escape the Terran. "It has multiphasic emitters and a maximum yield of eighty gigajoules."

A few button pushes and down came the massive gun.

"Impressive."

"Being a proper warship, it's cramped in here."

"Great. I've wanted to get a little closer to you all day."

"Really?"

"I was hoping to spend some intimate time with you. Maybe we could sleep together tonight."

Reed stood up. In his haste, he hit his head on a pipe. "On Earth, it's customary to ask a woman to dinner first before spending the night with her

"It's very different on Vissia. It's only when a woman enjoys her intimate time with a man that she'll join him for dinner."

And so they kissed each other and then, in the spirit of the Terran Empire, did more.

The deformed mutant chief engineer of the Enterprise met his Vissian counterpart later on. Apparently, he had to sniff his food as the Vissians did. "This must have taken you all day."

"If I had all day," Calla said, "I would have prepared a far more scented meal."

The engineer explained, "Calla's in charge of the Microgravity Lab. We usually don't have much time for cooking."

"Will your cogenitor be joining us?"

"It rarely eats more than one meal a day."

Tucker would have raised his left eyebrow if it was still there. "Oh, so in our mess hall..."

"Bringing a cogenitor to your ship was an exception," Calla said without hesitation.

"Too bad. I was hoping to say hello."

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Commander Tucker is very curious about our reproductive process. Humans are bi-gendered."

"I'll see if it's awake."

Sneaking away to the living quarters the next day, having established with Phlox that the cogenitor was just as intelligent as the other Vissians, Tucker held his breath. He rang the doorbell.

"They're not here," the third gender said.

"I came to see you."

"Why?"

Tucker held up his PADD. On it was an image of a figure in a red robe with a huge white bonnet. "I brought you this. It'll teach you how to read. Try it. Try it!"

"I don't understand."

"You just touch the word, then you'll hear it pronounced. Go ahead, try it."

At once, the mini-computer said, "We."

"That's right. Now go to the next one."

"We slept."

"Good. Again."

"Why are you doing this?" the cogenitor asked with sudden terror. "It's not right for me to read."

"Who told you that?"

"You shouldn't be here."

"You're as capable as they are. As smart as they are."

"That's not true. They need me to have children."

"It's not a question of what they need. You have the same rights, to learn, to choose your function, to have a name." Tucker realised the moment he finished how ridiculous what he said would sound to an alien and his expression didn't hide this.

"That may be true on your world but not on mine."

"When Calla gives birth, who's going to raise the baby? Who's going to take care of it?"

"They will," the cogenitor replied blankly.

"Why? You're just as crucial in creating the child as they are."

"You don't understand."

"Okay, maybe. But we took scans. My doctor says you have the same potential as they do. The only thing that sets you apart is your gender. You're no more different than they are from each other. Haven't you ever wished you could read? It won't hurt you, you know. There's nothing to be afraid of."

The cogenitor tapped the PADD again and it read out, "We slept in what had once been the gymnasium."

Several hours later and the cogenitor could now read the Vissian language. She was smiling, laughing. "The Didiron mountain range runs through the upper plains of the Great Continent."

"Amazing."

"The text describes far more impressive peaks."

"I don't mean the mountains, I mean your reading."

"The fauna and flora vary greatly on either side of the central plateau."

Rubbing his hands, Tucker said, "Look how much you've accomplished in a single day. And reading's just the tip of the iceberg. You could study all sorts of things. History, science. Engineering's not bad. You don't have to sit in this room all day."

"They would never let me learn those things."

"Then you've got to convince them. It's not just learning. It's experiencing things. Music, swimming in the ocean. You do have oceans on your planet?"

"Yes."

Grabbing the PADD and banging his fist on it, Tucker added, "And how about those Didiron Mountains? Reading about them is one thing, climbing them is another."

"I'd like to climb a mountain."

"There you go. That's the right attitude. You keep at it. I've got to get back. They think I'm at the Astrometrics lab. But I'll see you as soon as I can."

"Charles?"

"What?"

"I would like my name to be Charles."

"I'm flattered."

Now Tucker had really put his foot on it. Major Reed would love any excuse to haul him over hot coals (literally) and smuggling the cogenitor on board would really get the chief engineer in hot water (literally). As they walked along the metallic corridors, past the countless Terran Empire emblems of Earth in front of a sword, Tucker held the cogenitor close as they ducked and hid from both Terran crew and alien conscripts.

"Would you be punished if they find out you've brought me here?"

"Punished? I'd think a flogging, yes.."

"I would be punished."

"Maybe I should take you back."

"No, no, I want to see more."

"Okay. We'll just have to be sure no one spots us."

Tucker looked around a corner, saw a Vulcan, and signalled for the Vissian to wait. When the conscript had passed, Tucker waved the cogenitor forward.

Coming before a large, glowing chamber, Tucker said, "This is our transporter. It turns things into a matter stream that can be sent just about anywhere, within two thousand kilometres or so. Then it gets reassembled."

"Could it send a Vissian?"

"I don't see why not."

"I'd like to try."

"I don't think that would be a good idea."

"Could I see where you work?"

The left side of Tucker's head showed what it was like to work in engineering. Was it safe? "Sure. Follow me."

Several Jefferies Tubes later, Tucker and the cogenitor crawled out of a hatch on the upper level, away from the guards by the doors. "Coast is clear. That's our main engine. Fastest one in Starfleet. I've had it up to warp five point one. Stay away."

"I think my ship has something like this, but I've never seen it."

"Your ship has an engine that's a lot more sophisticated than this one. I would know, none of you have my problem."

"Do you live here?"

"No. My quarters are on B deck. No one would live here, no one deserves to live next to this thing. A necessary evil."

"You have a lot of strange people down here," said the cogenitor as it pointed towards various conscripts. "What's the hairy one?"

"That's a Tellarite. They're all trouble, all guilty of something. Come on, before you're fatally poisoned."

The next day, Captain Forrest summoned Tucker to the ready room. The first thing that happened was Corporal Cutler slamming the chief engineer into the wall, pinning him with her arm as Forrest spoke. "I've been told you're no longer welcome aboard the Vissian ship. Why?"

"I wasn't exactly where I was supposed to be."

"No, you weren't. You said you were going to a lab, but you weren't there. Then they tried their mess hall."

"I was with the cogenitor."

Now joining Cutler by punching Tucker in his sensitive deformed area, the captain demanded, "Where?"

At first, in her quarters. Actually, they're not her quarters. They belong to the Chief Engineer and his wife. She gets a room to sleep in, and if she's real good she can use their living space

Why were you there?

"I'm teaching her how to read."

"Why do you care about some alien's education?"

"What education?"

"Where else did you go?"

"I brought her here, gave her a little tour, showed her the warp core."

"Are you trying to disrupt my efforts? Is this a joke?"

"One day, that's all it took her. In one day she was reading a geography text."

"These first contacts are important to the Empire. Archer's trying his best in a pod and you're doing... what?"

"You're not listening to a word I'm saying, sir."

Cutler gave Tucker a kick to the groin. "Captain," she said, "may I deal with him?"

"Yes, Corporal. Get Phlox to help you."

Still feeling on fire from the treatment Phlox and Cutler had given him, Tucker sat by the lethal machine that he looked after even though it was killing him slowly. He'd spent some time calming down by giving his conscripts some rough treatment of his own, to the laughter of the Terran crew.

"Ahem," said the cogenitor.

"I didn't see you. How you doing? You all right?"

"They don't want to help me. They don't want me to climb mountains."

"Don't worry, they will. Give it time."

"They're angry with you. They'll leave as soon as our captain returns. They won't help me, but you can. I want to stay here, please."

After a roasting by Forrest (or rather a roasting by Cutler on behalf of Forrest), Tucker then had to face Commander Archer in the first officer's quarters. With Archer was T'Pol, an unusual pairing.

"Where is she?" Tucker's old friend asked.

"It's not exactly a she, sir."

"Where?"

"In my quarters."

Archer nodded, since that sentence had differing interpretations depending on the officer in question. "How long ago did this happen?"

"Last night after supper."

"They demanded that she be returned immediately," T'Pol said.

"I did exactly what you'd do, Commander. It's not like I had much choice. I wasn't going to just..."

"Will you excuse us, Commander?"

The Vulcan conscript left immediately.

Archer watched and then turned back to Tucker. "I might have expected something like this from a first-year recruit, but not you. You did exactly what I'd do? If that's true, then I've done a pretty lousy job setting an example around here and so has Captain Forrest. You're a senior officer on this ship. You're privy to the moral challenges we've had to face. You know we've wrestled with the fine line between doing what I think is right and interfering with other species. So don't tell me you know what I would have done when I don't even know what I would have done!"

"I didn't think it would hurt to teach her how to read."

"Then you didn't think hard enough. We're out here to gain new technology, not start pointless fights."

"Then why not let the rebel movement leave? We have their tech, we don't need to continue occupying them."

"Watch your tongue, Charles. I'll do my best to protect you, but this is really difficult. Sneaking into her quarters, bringing her on Enterprise, lying about where you were going, why?"

Tucker said nothing.

"Come with me."

Dragged to his quarters, past the gloating of Major Reed, Tucker had to show the first officer the frightened cogenitor.

"You don't understand. I can't go back."

"Just until we resolve this."

"Charles said I have the same rights as they do."

"It's not our place to tell you what rights you have."

"I swear allegiance to the Terran Empire!"

Archer stopped, slack-jawed. The Vissian was now under the protection of the Emperor's forces against aliens.

Forrest and Archer met Drennik and the relevant Vissians up in the captain's mess. Sergeant Mayweather was there with his troops just in case.

"Some men," Drennik began, "can work together for years without creating the friendship and bond that we did in only two days. I'm certain we can resolve this. "

"Irrelevant," Forrest snapped. "In the Terran Empire, when someone swears allegiance it has to be given serious consideration."

"We're not in the Empire, and I doubt whether this person truly understood what your engineer was suggesting."

Stepping up, the first officer said, "I've been told this person is just as capable of understanding as any of you are."

"Why are we debating this?" the engineer demanded. "The cogenitor belongs on our ship. Or are you suggesting my wife and I abandon our plans to have a child?"

"We've been asked to give sanctuary to someone who wants to join us. We can't ignore that."

"Do you know how long we've waited to be given a cogenitor?"

"Given? You sound like you're talking about some inanimate object."

"You have no right to judge us. You know nothing about our culture. What if one of your conscripts should ask us for asylum?"

Rolling his eyes, Forrest said, "They're not forced to do anything. They're paid, those who come from worlds that still need money."

"I apologise. But it's easy to misunderstand someone when you know nothing about their culture."

"You can't expect me to ignore someone when they ask for my protection."

"We're in no rush to leave," the Vissian captain said. "Take your time. Consider what we've said."

Captain's Starlog January 26 2153. As a precaution, I have summoned the assault fleet as reinforcements should this turn ugly.

"I have granted the cogenitor asylum," Forrest said to Archer. Addressing the entire bridge crew, he said, "Tactical alert. Commander, set course to rendezvous with the assault fleet, maximum warp."

"Aye sir," Archer said. "Sir, the Vissians may be able to see reason."

"We'll talk when we have the fleet backing us up. Are they pursuing?"

"Yes," Major Reed said.

Pressing the intercom, Forrest said, "Tucker, since you caused this mess, how about you get our acceleration up?"

"I'll try," the engineer said by the lethal warp core.

The first torpedo came from the Vissian ship. "Hull plating holding," Reed said. "I talked with their tactical officer and got data on their systems."

"Good, Major. Return fire, shake them off."

4 spatial torpedoes flew out of Enterprise and struck the other ship's engines. Although slowed, the explosions hadn't stopped the ship.

"How long to the assault fleet?" Archer asked.

"6 minutes," T'Pol said as a crewman was blown back by console explosion in the situation room.

"How fast are they?"

"Warp 3."

"Hoshi," Forrest demanded as sparks flew above his head, "tell them to speed up. Reed, continue fire!"

Blue streaks slid across the viewscreen, but it was no malfunction. Several Warp Deltas and the ISS Intrepid had arrived. "Captain Ramirez is hailing," Hoshi said.

"Tell him to either destroy or capture that ship! No nonsense!"

"Aye sir."

Plasma cannons- a weapon Reed had not shown Veylo- opened up and orange pulses whizzed into the Vissian ship's engines. Fire's burst into existence and vanished instantly as more of the alien vessel fell apart. Ripe for capture, MACOs beamed aboard from the Intrepid and Enterprise, bringing the whole sorry affair to a close.

"All this because they wouldn't allow the cogenitor to read," Tucker said over the intercom as Starfleet prepared to tow the ship to a starbase and held the Vissians in their own cargo bays. "I'd say it serves them right, eh Commander?"

"I guess," Archer said.

"For once, I agree," Reed said. "Captain, may I have the Vissian tactical officer, Veylo, brought to my quarters later. We have a matter to discuss."

"Granted," Forrest said, smiling. "We have had a great victory today. We have gained new technology and protected an Imperial citizen from slavers." Tapping his fist on his chest and then reaching out, he said, "Long live the Empire!"

"Long live the Empire!" said the bridge crew.

T'Pol shook her head. The Terrans talked as though they were moral supremacy made manifest. Yes, they'd liberated the cogenitor, but so what when the Empire enslaved so many more?

"We will transfer the congenitor at the starbase," Forrest said. "Archer, set course, warp 3. Take pride in what you've all done here. Well done."