—Chapter 2—

Two days later.

"Captain," said Hoshi, "I'm picking up a distress call. Audio only."

"Let's hear it," said Archer.

The slight hiss and spatter of static, then, "This is Ulvar, Captain of the Sultara. We are under attack by two ships of the Orion Syndicate. We ask for assistance, if you are capable of rendering it without endangering your own ship."

"Do we have a lock on their location," said Archer, looking at T'Pol.

"We do, Captain," said T'Pol. "Two hours, six minutes at best speed. I have already transmitted the coordinates to Helm."

"Travis, take us there. Warp 5."

"Aye, sir," said the helmsman.

Some two hours later, the Enterprise floated next to what remained of the Sultara, an older Vulcan ship.

"SubCommander," said Archer.

A moment later, T'Pol said, "I have two life signs, Captain. One Vulcan female, one Risan male. The Risan is in need of medical attention."

"Lieutenant Reed, take your team and check it out," said Archer.

"Yes, sir."

"Take Trip with you. If the Orions left any nasty surprises behind, he's the man to disarm them."

"Yes, Captain," said Malcolm.

"I should go as well, Captain," said T'Pol.

"No," said Archer. "Let them clear the ship and you can speak to the Vulcan once she's brought aboard. They have their comm unit translator."

That was logical, thought T'Pol. Every comm unit had an app which StarFleet intended to turn into a Universal Translator eventually, though now it was only programmed to translate Vulcan and Risan, but it should do the job until the Vulcan was brought aboard.

"Yes, Captain."

The boarding of the Sultara went well enough, with Malcolm leading the way and Trip watchful for booby traps, though none were discovered. Malcolm's team had found the Risan, an elderly male, hiding in one of the ship's storage lockers outside the dorm rooms, while Trip found a Vulcan female named Ke'Relle, wedged between some tool lockers in Engineering. Both were quickly ushered to the Enterprise's Sick Bay. The Risan remained there, the Vulcan was invited to dine with the captain.

"It's about time you showed up, Commander," said Archer as Trip slipped into the Captain's Mess to take his usual seat.

T'Pol and Ke'Relle were already seated, and Ke'Relle gave Trip a slight smile. T'Pol noticed this, and frowned almost imperceptibly.

"It's good to see you again, Commander Tucker," said Ke'Relle.

"Call me Trip."

"As you wish, Trip," said Ke'Relle. "Call me, Baby."

"All right, Sexy," said Trip.

"No, I said, Baby," said Ke'Relle, then caught a glance of Trip's face. "Oh, I see what you did there, Trip. You may be certain that I am flattered."

Trip and Archer glanced briefly at each other, and laughed: this was their first, a Vulcan with a sense of humor. Archer leaned over to say something to T'Pol, while Trip nodded to the captain's steward as the man brought him a beer, and Ke'Relle a menu of what Chef had prepared for the Captain's Table.

"I was just telling, Ke'Relle," said Archer, "that we have picked up the trail of the Orions, and are hot in pursuit, Trip."

"Fine by me, sir," said Trip.

"You've all made your selections?" said Ke'Relle, after taking note of the fact that she was the only one studying a menu.

"We all have standing orders for Friday evening," said Archer. "It's salad, two slabs of baby back ribs, fries, baked beans and coleslaw for me, a spicy lentil soup and a Middle Eastern vegetarian meze platter for T'Pol, and gumbo and a seafood platter for Trip."

"I will have the same as Trip, please" said Ke'Relle to the steward, handing the man her menu.

Archer knew that Vulcans had stopped consuming animal products after the coming of Surak, and so was suitably surprised at Ke'Relle's dietary choices. It seemed that T'Pol felt the same, for as the steward nodded and moved to fulfill their food order, T'Pol held him in place with a gesture.

"The Commander's meal contains seafood, Ke'Relle, ocean dwelling fish, shellfish and crustaceans," said T'Pol, certain that her fellow Vulcan had missed something in the translation.

"I'm aware of that, T'Pol," said Ke'Relle. "My Earth Standard English is adequate."

"You are v'tosh ka'tur," said T'Pol, visibly surprised, which for her meant only the slightest hint of surprise, before she nodded that the steward should go about his duties.

"What is that, T'Pol?" said Archer.

"It translates to 'Vulcans without Logic', Captain," said Ke'Relle, "and now I believe I have disturbed the SubCommander."

"It would take much more than that to disturb me, Ke'Relle," said T'Pol. "It would be more accurate to say that you have surprised me."

"I've never heard of Vulcans without Logic before," said Trip. "What percentage of the population do you represent, Ke'Relle?"

"A small one, but on full moons, v'tosh ka'tur sprout horns and go on murderous rampages, Trip," said Ke'Relle, with a wink at the Chief Engineer.

"She is being facetious, Commander Tucker," said T'Pol.

"Really? said Trip with a smirk.

"Don't spoil my narrative, T'Pol," said Ke'Relle. "I was about to have our human friends shaking in their boots."

"You are in a good mood, Ke'Relle, considering that your shipmates stand in danger," said T'Pol, a hint of disapproval in her tone.

"They were my shipmates only in the technical sense," said Ke'Relle, "and in any case, we are on a mission to rescue them, if possible. I fail to understand the logic of your disapproval, T'Pol."

Archer's curiosity prompted him to speak.

"What do you mean, shipmates only in the technical sense, Ke'Relle?"

The steward brought out a salad for Archer, a bowl of lentil soup for T'Pol and two bowls of gumbo for Trip and Ke'Relle. The Vulcan's attention was torn between the food, and Archer.

"I bartered my services in Engineering for passage to Earth, Captain," said Ke'Relle, audibly sniffing her bowl of soup and licking her lips. "I'm concerned about the safety of the Sultara's crew, Captain, but I haven't known them much longer than I've known you."

A moment later Trip and Ke'Relle tucked into their gumbo with visible gusto as Archer and T'Pol looked at them both, then each other. T'Pol raised a brow, Archer snorted and laughed.

"What do you think?" said Trip.

"Oh, it's delicious, Trip," said Ke'Relle.

"Wait 'till you taste the seafood platter, Ke'Relle," said Trip with a smile. "A grilled red snapper fillet dusted with Cajun spices, a flounder fillet pan-fried in butter, a fried soft shelled crab, three fried shrimp, six fried oysters, coleslaw, fries and a spicy crawfish boudin sausage link."

"Sounds positively decadent, Trip," said Ke'Relle.

"Don't feel bad if you can't finish it all," said Trip. "It's my one meal of shameless gluttony each week."

"I promise to finish every morsel," said Ke'Relle. "I will not fail you, Trip."

"I find your loyalty... intoxicating, Ke'Relle," said Trip with a wicked smile.

T'Pol looked at the Commander and then Ke'Relle, and Archer noted that the SubCommander's eyes had narrowed quite a bit, before he turned his attention to his own salad. The rest of the meal was largely consumed in silence, save for the groans, moans and sighs emanating from Trip and Ke'Relle. Trip never contributed much to the conversation during Friday night's feast until after dessert and T'Pol seemed preoccupied, though she seemed to study the interaction between Trip and Ke'Relle much of the time.

"That was a glorious feast, Trip," said Ke'Relle as the steward cleared her plate.

"It's not over yet, Ke'Relle," said Trip, and rubbed his hands together as the steward placed a small bowl and a cup in front of each diner. "Tonight, I give you a brandy & chocolate bread pudding dusted liberally with cinnamon and brown sugar, and then briefly torched on top, so that the sugar carmelizes. We chase it all down with a cup of French Roast coffee."

Ke'Relle sniffed the bread pudding and groaned with pleasure.

"Trip always picks our desserts," said Archer. "He's got a special touch."

"You are eating dessert, T'Pol?" said Ke'Relle with a mock look of disapproval. "That is not logical. These are largely empty calories."

"Dessert is the one dietary concession I have made since boarding the Enterprise, Ke'Relle. I have developed quite a sweet tooth in a short time, and I hold Commander Tucker responsible for that fact."

"Let's take our dessert and coffee to my quarters, Ke'Relle," said Trip, only to be interrupted by the unpleasantly loud clatter of T'Pol's spoon hitting her cup and the plate beneath it.

Everyone looked at the SubCommander.

"Apologies," said T'Pol. "It slipped from my fingers."

"As I was saying, you'll need hours to digest this feast," said Trip. "Since you're going to Earth, I'll put on a couple of human movies which I think you'll like and we can engage in some shop talk afterwards. I'd love to ask you some questions about Vulcan engine design."

"That sounds a pleasant way to spend an evening, Trip," said Ke'Relle, standing gracefully and scooping up her coffee and bread pudding. "Captain, gratitude for your hospitality."

"You're welcome, Ke'Relle," said Archer, waiting until Trip and Ke'Relle left the Captain's Mess, to speak again. "Judging by those two, we should rename the Enterprise to 'The Love Boat'."

T'Pol gave Archer a deadpan look, and said, "That is a bit premature, Captain."

"Is it? I wonder."

The next morning, by ship's time, T'Pol stalked the halls of the Enterprise, until she ran into Ke'Relle.

"Ke'Relle," said T'Pol, "I was looking for you. I tried your quarters, repeatedly, but you did not answer."

"Logic dictates that I was not there, T'Pol."

When Ke'Relle did not elaborate on her whereabouts, T'Pol said, "May I ask where you were?"

"I spent the night in Commander Tucker's quarters."

T'Pol flinched slightly at that, though Ke'Relle did not notice, and said, "I see."

"Yes. He's a surprisingly pleasant companion. We conversed 'till dawn, then fell asleep together in that overstuffed bean bag of his. It was was surprisingly comfortable."

"I would have no idea of that," said T'Pol, "for I have never entered the Commander's quarters."

"So why did you wish to speak to me, T'Pol?"

"Did you engage in sexual intercourse with the Commander?"

"That's why you wanted to speak to me, T'Pol?"

"No, of course not, Ke'Relle. I was just curious."

Ke'Relle smiled, and said, "Are you attracted to the Commander, T'Pol?"

"A Vulcan/Human pairing would not be logical, Ke'Relle."

"That was not my question, T'Pol."

T'Pol would not dignify Ke'Relle's ludicrous ideas with a response.

"I suspect my quess was accurate," said Ke'Relle, and before T'Pol could protest, Ke'Relle continued speaking, "and so I'll tell you that we did not engage in sexual intercourse. Does that ease your mind?"

"You are being ridiculous, Ke'Relle. I have no personal interest in the Commander."

"Than you do not mind if I take such interest?"

"Do as you like," said T'Pol, her eyes cold. "In any case, I wished to notify you that we have found the Orions."

"Oh, that is good news," said Ke'Relle.

"The captain will call a meeting, shortly. He asks that you attend that meeting."

"Certainly, T'Pol."

Minutes later, T'Pol entered Engineering, to find Commander Tucker occupied at one of the consoles.

"Commander," she said, when standing near-by failed to draw his attention as it usually did.

"T'Pol. Sorry, I was distracted."

"By that control panel, or by Ke'Relle?"

Trip turned to look at T'Pol, and said, "What does that mean?"

"It was a simple question, Commander, but I would not advise you to pursue a relationship with a v'tosh ka'tur. Their lack of logic would prove troublesome over the long term."

"Duly noted, SubCommander. What can I do for you?"

"I wished to notify you that the captain would speak with us in the conference room."

"Ok, but as far as I know the comm system still works."

"I was just passing by, Commander."

Trip smiled, then leaned against one of the vertical steel beams running through Engineering, and said, "If you're crushing on me, T'Pol, you have to tell me. It's in the Rules & Guidelines manual, Section 10, paragraph 3."

Trip knew well enough that T'Pol had no interest in him, but still couldn't pass up a chance to toy with her.

"Crushing on you, Commander?"

"Strongly attracted to me."

"That is ridiculous, Commander. I am certain that you can find your own way to the conference room."