A/N: Yes, yes, I know it's been more than a week... sorry! But it least it hasn't taken too long for me to update. I'm trying to keep three chapters ahead so that I have at least a bit of leeway to fall back on if needs be!

A few responses to my reviewers, as always:

General Kunama: Lol, I could hardly write a fic that didn't include Malcolm! I'm glad you're enjoying it!

Verity Kindle: I wouldn't call Henny a weapons freak, but she is good at the technical stuff every now and then. And as for love being in the air... well, you'll have to wait and find out! Thanks for reviewing.

volley: Well, Annan has a lot of issues, as we're going to find out in the next couple of chapters. And, well, the story is in the 'romance' section so hopefully there'll be a bit of fluffiness going on soon! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Lady Rainbow: Wow, everyone's interested in Trip's quarters! Don't worry, they're coming up soon! Thanks for your review, enjoy chapter three!

Sita Z: Well, I can't give too much away, but an away mission just wouldn't be complete if it didn't involve an injured Malcolm, would it? Glad you're enjoying the story (love your Drown Malcolm fic btw), and thanks for reviewing!

Begoogled: Don't worry, I find instantaneous Romeo-and-Juliet love affairs a bit of a turn-off myself, so if a romance should happen it is likely to be a tentative one! Glad to meet a fellow Les Mis fan – I've seen it three times and it gets better and better lol!

burrcat213: Lol, well, we can't put Malcolm through too much pain! Thanks for your review, I hope you enjoy chapter three!

Disclaimer: I do not own Enterprise and am not (though a certain Miss Robin Hobbs – grr – would claim otherwise) trying to make any claim on the copyright. I'm just having fun, and hopefully everyone reading is too! Now, on with the fic...

Chapter Three

Planet-Bound

When Henny returned to the store in the afternoon, she was surprised to receive a sharp greeting from Heron.

"Where were you?"

Henny frowned, surprised not only at her friend and superior's tone, but also at the fact that the machines were, for once, quite still.

"Sleeping. I was ordered to, after I worked through the night with that batch for Reed, I did warn you... what's going on?" She glanced at Annan Henson, but he simply stared back at her, his face inscrutable. Jill Derner was in the textiles room, too, her face taut with excitement. Heron surveyed Henny for a moment, as though assessing her, before saying gruffly:

"We're going on an away mission. You, me, Jill and Tiller. The captain's made contact with the planet, and they've agreed to let us have a look for some raw supplies."

Crewman Henny Mackie felt a thrill run through her entire body. Was this what the command crew felt every time they planned to go planet-side? Stepping foot on an alien planet. She had joined Starfleet for this.

"Contact? But I thought they were pre-warp?"

Heron nodded, and Henny noticed that her leg was jiggling with nerves – or excitement. Heron noticed it too, and coughed in embarrassment. Henny didn't blame her for being less than professional, though, given the circumstances.

"They are, but they've already made contact with several alien species, made first contact about fifty years ago -" Heron glanced at her chronometer and took a deep breath in. "We have an hour till we need to meet on the transporter pad."

Henny felt her trembling excitement still and turn cold.

"The transporter?" She asked, well aware that her voice had risen a semitone. "Why can't we take the shuttlepod?"

"Because," a gruff voice from behind her answered, "we're heading to an agricultural area which is protected by their laws." He snorted. "Namby-pambies don't want us polluting their area of fine agriculture. Not scared, are you?"

Henny turned, her eyebrow raised, to Tiller, but smiled when she saw that he was as pale as she must be under his dark beard.

"Only as much as you are, Ryan." She said blithely, and was rewarded by a stern cough which, she knew, hid a great deal of fondness. He and Heron, both in their early forties and old hands on spaceships, had taken the five younger crewmen of the store under their wing, Henny as the youngest even more so. Though he would deny it were he ever asked, Ryan Tiller even had a soft spot for the hapless Billy Cortan – though that particular soft spot was very well veiled. Henny glanced at Billy, Manning and Henson, who were all in the room, fearing they would be envious of the only opportunity any in the group had ever been given to go on an away mission, but whilst there was a slight amiable envy in all of their looks' there was also a resounding sense of excitement for their colleagues. Henson in fact looked somewhat relieved, though Henny had the sneaking suspicion that this was due to the fact that Jill Derner was on the away mission and he was not.

"So much to do!" Heron flapped her hands, her expression somewhat lost, before taking a deep breath in and rallying her professionalism. "Jill, you go down and ask Chef what kind of food supplies he needs. Tiller, I need a list of the raw materials Engineering will be wanting... I'll check what we have to barter... Henny, you check the textiles situation and meet us at the transporter pad in half an hour!"

And with that, Crewman Heron dashed from the store, Tiller at her heels, her expression one of great anxiety and excitement. Jill Derner hung back, her gaze on Annan.

"Wish me luck?" She said, her tone low. Henson looked up, his lips parting slightly.

"I -"

"Good luck," Billy Cortan jumped in, throwing an angry and envious glance at Henson. Jill shot him a wavering smile and left the room. Manning, Billy and Henny all stared at Annan, who was studiously working at a stain on a uniform. The uniform was Phlox's, and the stain was an odd greenish colour; on second thoughts, Henny decided she didn't really want to know what it was. Anyway, there were more important things to discuss, and even checking the supplies of cotton and wool wasn't at the top of the list. Manning was the first to speak, her voice tinged with exasperation.

"For goodness sake, Annan -"

"Don't." He said, firmly. It seemed to be all they heard from him, these days. Looking at their stubborn expressions he sighed and threw down the uniform. "Whatever has happened between -" he stopped abruptly, picked up the uniform, and began scrubbing with an increased fervour. Catherine shot Henny an exasperated look, whilst Billy, his cheeks slightly red, nodded to the two women and retreated into the workshop.

Henny gave a sigh, before remembering that she now had less than twenty minutes to prepare for her very first away mission. Her hands feeling slightly unsteady, she retreated into the supplies cupboard with a PADD to check what they would need.

888

The store was quiet as Mackie left, its only remaining occupants the unspeaking Henson, the thoughtful-looking Catherine, and the accident-prone Billy. Occasionally, Billy would drop something in the workshop with a crash, and both Henson and Catherine would look up, though Henson's expression was far less charitable than that of his female counterpart. On what seemed like the twentieth crash to emanate from the adjoining room in but a few minutes, the pale-faced man muttered darkly;

"Imagine sharing a quarters with him."

Catherine paused in her stitching and frowned.

"You do."

"Exactly."

As she shook her head and returned to her methodical repairs, Billy crept into the room, looking shame-faced.

"Do you mind if I join you for a bit? There's not a lot I can do on my own..." He trailed off, his ginger hair clashing starkly with his face, its whiteness broken by bright spots on his cheeks. Though Henson's expression was (for Henson) positively unfriendly, Manning patted the seat beside her.

"Go for it. We don't want you hurting yourself, after all." Billy giggled nervously at that, and the room fell into silence once more. They all knew that four members of their team would be walking towards the transporter in but a few minutes. Though none of them gave voice to the thought, they all felt a slight squirm of envy. The first away mission offered to the Quartermaster's Team in four years – and they were left behind. What they had hid behind their smiles earlier – none of them wished to ruin the much-desired experience of their fellows' – the silence now drew out of them. Billy's foot tapped nervously against his chair leg, and his hands, deprived – unlike Henson and Manning's – of anything to do began to fiddle aimlessly. After a few minutes of this, Henson looked up, his expression deadpan.

"Billy, go get your sketchbook. I know you're itching to." At these words, uttered with something of a reluctant air, the young crewman's eyes widened.

"You sure?"

"I won't offer again."

Billy knew when not to miss a chance when it was offered on such an easy plate. He hurried back into the workshop, and Manning chanced a glance at Henson."You know, I'm rather envious that he never draws me. Am I not pretty enough?" She gave a mock pout, though she knew full well that she – ash blonde-haired and blue-eyes – was certainly not his type. Mahogany and hazel, perhaps (four years ago Cathy would have uncharitably added that it sounded like an advert for a wood furnishing company, but her tastes in men had – thankfully – altered after what was aptly known in the department as the Henson-Derner fiasco), not that he would admit it. However, he played his part well, allowing a rare smile to grace his ascetic features.

"You are quite pretty, Cathy, but I have fine bone structure."

888

Waiting beside the transporter platform as though he used it every day, Lieutenant Reed was somewhat surprised to see the look of extreme anxiety on Crewman Mackie's face as she approached, until he recalled his own nerves upon first stepping upon the machine.

"Don't worry," he said, feeling that some encouragement was needed to bring the colour back into her cheeks, "it's perfectly safe." He paused, reassessing the veracity of that statement. "Safer than it used to be, at least." Safe enough, he thought, to be used for situations of diplomacy, rather than just emergency. Mackie gave a nervous laugh. Perhaps his words hadn't been quite encouraging enough.

"I just don't want to come back from my first away mission as a stream of unidentifiable electrons, thanks," she said, before biting her lip. "Sorry. Nerves make me a bit loqua -"

"Lieutenant," it was the Captain, and Reed felt a slight surge of annoyance as Archer's warm smile seemed to calm the nervous Crewman tenfold to what his awkward words had, "Crewman." Mackie flashed the Captain a brief smile, before frowning.

"Sir, may I ask you a question?"

Reed was surprised by her formality, partially because it contrasted with his own. After four years on Enterprise, he had come to speak his mind with his Captain. He was unsure if this was a positive development or not.

"Fire away, Miss Mackie."

"I was wondering – why are we stocking up? I thought we were planning to return to Spacedock within the next four months?"

Reed raised an eyebrow. He had been wondering that himself – their mission after the Expanse had been originally planned to be a short one, though knowing the Captain as he did he had never truly expected it to be so. Archer shrugged.

"That's the plan, but plans always change. I wanted to be prepared in case we stay out longer than we were meant to, and since we were given the opportunity by the Clendavins..." He trailed off, smiling slightly. Both Reed and Mackie nodded, though the former had a suspicion that the Captain's decision to load with supplies was based on more than just an instinct. The man was probably already grappling with Starfleet Command over allowing Enterprise to extend her mission.

Three more crewmen, along with a member of Malcolm's team, came round the corner, the latter looking slightly bored and the former all as pale as Crewman Mackie. Archer shot Malcolm a long-suffering look.

"Malcolm. This is a peaceful mission."

"Indeed." The armoury officer responded sceptically, taking one of the phase pistols offered by his Ensign. He glanced at Mackie. "Your work on the charge packs was very good, by the way."

"Oh." She flushed slightly. "Than -"

"I hope you won't make this the fifty-first time, Lieutenant!" The rather matronly woman Reed knew to be the unofficially titled 'Quartermaster' interrupted, giggling slightly. He covered his slight smile with a cough, whilst Archer looked on in bemusement before shaking his head and stepping onto the transporter pad. Reed and Ensign Tremin joined him, but the four crewmen hung back. Archer flashed them a brief smile of encouragement whilst Reed saw Tremin roll his eyes. He himself was torn somewhere between the two. He had experienced a 'first time' too, after all. After a pause, the older crewman stepped up onto the pad with a huffing sound and glared at his fellows, still waiting below.

"Come on, might as well get this over with..." he said, and the three women stepped up onto the pad albeit, Reed noticed, with the greatest reluctance. The red haired crewman shot the ensign at the control pad a nervous glance.

"Are you sure its entirely safe to have so many -"

The words, however, didn't have a chance to fully leave her mouth, for the glimmering light that preceded transport was already surrounding them, and for a single millisecond they knew nothing.

888

A/N: Now, I'm coming to the realisation that this is quite a "talkie" fic, and it isn't exactly going to be moving at a great pace either. Is this alright? Please read and review!