Charles Tucker walked into the mess about seven in the evening. He went over to one of the chefs and received the supper "card".
"Don't you have any pecan pie?" He grumbled. The chef, obviously a new recruit because of the staring at the right side of his face, shook her head.
"What kind of service is that? I can get better food on a Vulcan freighter!" With those words he left the chef and marched over to the wall, where he received his supper. Then he looked for somewhere to sit. It was crowded, but one of the tables was reserved for Starfleet officers only. He frowned as he saw Commander Reed gulping down that hideous black tea of his. The only free spaces were around him. It was if he had some kind of energy shield around himself, keeping everyone at a distance. Everyone except Hoshi… Trip gave up a grin. For Queen and Country indeed!
"Make some place will ya?" He said and sunk down on a chair. Malcolm looked up at him.
"What, you want another go in the agony booth?" He asked, giving him a wry, cold smile.
"You got your dose from Admiral Forrest, as I recall." Countered Trip. The smile disappeared from Malcolm's face.
"To the late Admiral Forrest." Malcolm said and raised his cup.
"He was a prick." Agreed Trip and raised his cup of juice. They both took a sip from their respective drinks. Malcolm had a strange look on his face. Trip hoped it was something that was bothering him.
"When you return to engineering, be sure to watch out for things falling on your head."
"That explosion really messed your head up, Malcolm. What the hell does that mean?"
"It means… watch you back. People are after your post too, Commander Tucker… But now I'm leaving. Its impossible breath when you are nearby. You reek of plasma exhausts like some reptilian mechanic!" Commented Malcolm with a chilly tone before rising and leaving the mess. Trip looked after him, wondering what was wrong with that man. The he began eating the supper.
Malcolm sure hoped that Trip took his words seriously, "seeing" him get hit in the head with a warp modulator was refreshing, but would not help Malcolm stop Hoshi. But Trip knew he was the head of security, and that he knew almost every rumour on the ship. He would take precautions.
Turning off towards his quarters, Malcolm was about to open is door when a reflection made him flinch and turn around. He barely managed to dodge a blade, reacting instinctively he jabbed the person in the stomach. As the person swayed Malcolm gripped him by his arm, put a foot behind the other man's leg and pulled it forward. The action made the person tip over and down on the floor. He saw it was one of Pace's men, just as he had predicted.
Without hesitation Malcolm pulled out his blaster, aiming at him. The man still had the knife, which he threw at Malcolm. It bounced off the wall behind him. Not wishing to give the assassin a third chance Malcolm fired. The ray vaporized the man instantly in a spectacular fiery fashion, as Malcolm never had his blaster at stun, unless ordered to.
"Marvellous." Commented Malcolm before he picked up the knife from the floor. These new blasters were so much more refined than their old ones..! He went into his quarters. It was nothing more than a bed, a wardrobe, a computer and a bathroom. His black MACO form was lying on the bed where he had left it.
"Computer." He said. The device on his desk hummed to life. "Find file on Starfleet Officer Malcolm Reed." While it processed his request he went over to the window. The stars were flying past him, the suns of thousands of systems. How was the Empire supposed to control all this? Or perhaps it wasn't? He frowned. What if their world was the wrong one? As T'Pol had explained to him, it was not a parallel world, it was a mirror world. Obviously humans had been and were the driving forces behind the multi-racial Federation in the other world. The Enterprise had been a peaceful ship of exploration. But was that better than his way of life? Better than the Empire? He assumed it was a relative question, based on your own point of view.
He turned back to the computer; surprising himself by being slightly nervous. The computer had indeed found a file. Slowly he sat down into the small armchair. He checked the picture; it was indeed him, but still not. His hair was longer, browner. He was a Lieutenant! That was even lower than Major! He continued reading:
"Malcolm Reed was British and was descended from a family with a strong military/naval tradition."
"Reed was the senior armoury officer aboard Enterprise. He helped complete the ship's first mission, which was intervening in a Suliban plot to cause civil war in the Klingon Empire."
"Reed was a master of adapting to difficult situations. In an early battle, during the mission an alien force attacked and attempted to capture the crew so they could drain them of their bodily fluids. After Enterprise's weapons failed to penetrate the enemy's shields, he cooperated with an Axanar vessel to drive off the enemy. This was only one of many such occasions."
"During the final days of the Xindi mission, he led a team that boarded a sphere in order to get information about the Sphere Builders, the aliens who were behind the plot to destroy Earth. After Major Hayes was killed in the rescuing Hoshi, Reed took over the MACOs. He led them on the final mission aboard the superweapon and helped to successfully destroy it."
This piece Malcolm had to read again. Major Hayes? He grinned. And why had the Xindi tried to destroy the Earth?
"Reed was also involved in designing new and improved equipment for the Enterprise. This included the EM- barrier and improved weapons efficiency. He is also credited to have implemented the first 'tactical alert'."
"He was a good friend of Charles 'Trip' Tucker. The Chief Engineer and Commander of the Enterprise." Malcolm leaned back into the armchair, letting out a long breath. This was wrong…
He continued by accessing a few pictures attached to "his" biographical file. As if someone "up there" really wished to set his head spinning today, there just happened to be a picture of that other Lieutenant Reed and Commander Tucker, happy, smiling at an unknown planet. Malcolm rose from the chair, walked a few laps around his quarters to calm himself and then sat down again. He barely recognized Trip without his scarred face. Swallowing he looked at the next picture, showing the entire party of officers of the first Enterprise.
"By all the Emperors!" He said. Archer was the Captain from the start! Everyone else was there too, T'Pol, Phlox, Hoshi, Travis, Trip… Feeling himself slightly dizzy Malcolm shut the computer down. It looked like they all got along like a big family! "What's wrong with you?" He said out loud and retrieved his assassin's knife. With it in hand he marched out of his quarters.