The (half-)naked truth

Tholos' antennae were planted firmly to the back of his head as the horrible whining sound of a ship crossing a vortex filled the bridge again. Only for the second time Captain Reed had ordered the maneuver to be performed and with a sense of satisfaction he noticed that this time all weapons systems stayed online. The long after-duty hours with Lieutenant-Commander T'Len and her second in command, Lieutenant Trak had paid off. The vortex generator still strained the ship's systems, but at least the number of blown EPS relays would be less catastrophic than last time.

The warrior inside him did not like the fact that they were recalled from the front lines, but the fact that they would become part of a project to build a ship like none of them had seen before was an equally honorable endeavor. The Captain was obviously upset about something. Taking the risk of vortex travel to get back to Earth that quickly was a sure sign of a problem.

All Captain Reed had spoken about was 'a security situation', but one didn't need to be a telepath to see that the situation in question was a serious one. Whenever the Captain became quite, there was trouble brewing and the concerned glances that their finally returned first officer kept sending him confirmed the theory.

The mood of the Captain could only mean that the 'security situation' would have affected Commander Tucker and Captain T'Pol as well. The friendship between Captain Reed, his wife and the two Enterprise officers was well known. Among the Andorians on Buran they were simply known as 'the First Quad'. While neither humans, nor Vulcans shared Andorias biological trait of four-way marriages, the relationship between the two couples ran much deeper than that between most pairs of Andorian couples that formed the traditional quads.

=/\=

"We are exiting the vortex," Grev, the Tellarite pilot reported.

"ETA to Jupiter station?" Malcolm asked.

"Ten minutes to the outskirts of Sol system, 63 minutes at half impulse to Jupiter station."

"Ok, you're with me to the ready room, Tholos. Hoshi, you have the con."

"Aye, Sir," Hoshi and Tholos answered in unison and the Andorian followed him off the bridge.

"There has been a bomb blast on Jupiter station," Malcolm started without preamble, as soon as the door had closed behind them. "A Terrorist group called 'Humanity First' has claimed responsibility."

"Do we know anything about them?" Tholos asked, seeing what the Captain's mood was about.

"They are regrouped Terra Prime supporters. It's only a minority group, but big enough to be able to plant a bomb on Jupiter station and kill 32 station workers. It's our job to bring them down and secure the station."

"I understand. I will assemble a search team."

"Not so fast, warrior," Malcolm said. "That will be my job. Yours is to provide security for both Buran and Enterprise. The search and destroy mission will be conducted by Enterprise forces."

"Do you deem our troops too inexperienced?" Tholos asked and Malcolm could hear the distinctly offended undertone in Tholos' voice.

"No, I don't," Malcolm said. "But our security team has four Vulcans and eight Andorians in it. Since part of the operation may perhaps take place on Earth, we'd stand out a bit, wouldn't you say?"

"Indeed. I apologize," Tholos answered.

"No need to apologize," Malcolm replied. "You defended your people and I expect nothing less from a good leader. You will have to do with your security team. Our MACO's are as useless as a one-legged man in an arse-kicking contest and will be replaced. But that takes a few days. I will take Enterprise's MACO's and security team with me, so your team will have to handle security on both ships. I'm counting on you."

"You can rely on us Captain," Tholos proclaimed proudly. "How far will the ships be docked from each other?"

"Not far," Malcolm said, satisfied that Tholos had immediately jumped into the mission by considering its logistics. "Enterprise is docked to the station and we will dock on their ship."

"Understood Captain. I will brief my team immediately."

"You do that," Malcolm agreed with a nod. "Dismissed and good luck, Lieutenant."

"Thank you Captain."

=/\=

With a loud clunk Buran docked on Enterprise's starboard port and the airlock pressurized. As soon as the indicator went green, the door opened and a determined looking Malcolm stepped through.

"Hey Mal," Trip greeted him enthusiastically.

"Hi Trip. There's time for the pleasantries later, I need you, T'Pol, your MACO's and your security team in cargo bay 1 in fifteen," Malcolm said and walked off.

"Has he been like that for long?" Trip asked Hoshi, who had come in after Malcolm. He greeted her with a hug. "Good to see you."

"Can't say for sure," Hoshi sighed. "But he definitely was like that when he picked me up from the station. You would think he would have gotten the hint when I waited for him in our quarters naked as a jaybird after his shift was up, but he went straight to his desk and started playing with his strategy schematics."

"How was he supposed to know the difference," Trip cackled. "You don't wear anything in your quarters most of the time."

"Not true," Hoshi mock-protested under giggles. "I normally wear panties."

"Makes all the difference, hon," Trip said with a grin and indicated her to follow him.

"Seriously though, he takes such things hard," Hoshi explained as they made their way to greet T'Pol. "He hasn't spoken to his own family in years. We are his family now. For him it's like someone tried to blow up his brother's house."

"Ask me how T'Pol and I felt about you guys being at the front line on the other end of the quadrant," Trip replied. "But he can't become obsessed with it. He'll end up like I almost did in the Expanse."

"Well, by the look of it, things aren't exactly safe here either," she reminded him.

"Not yet, but trust me, when Mal's done with the place you can keep your door unlocked and not a pencil gets stolen."

"Well, I will keep my door locked," Hoshi insisted with a mischievous grin.

"Wouldn't want someone to walk in on ya letting 'em catch some fresh air, hm?" he agreed with a chuckle.

=/\=

"Your stage, Mal," Trip, freshly-minted Fleet Captain, said after everyone had assembled. Malcolm had been so determined to get started that he had even missed the new pips on Trip's shoulder. Only after Trip, T'Pol and Hoshi had made it to cargo bay 1, he had noticed them and congratulated Trip.

"Ok, everybody," Malcolm explained. "I don't want to waste time on this, so let's get straight to the point. I want Jupiter station turned upside down. Every removable panel I want removed and checked. Master Sergeant Cole – your people will do that. You are to wear EV suites in case the terrorists have planted chemical or biological agents."

"Aye, Sir," Cole replied. "I request Crewman Tilman from Lieutenant Taylor's team. She's an expert on chemical warfare."

"Tilman, you're with the MACO's," Malcolm ordered curtly.

"Taylor, you split your team in two halves. Set up shop on Bozeman and Whitehorse. I want each and every station worker given the third degree. If there are terrorist sleepers among them I want them ratted out. If something sounds fishy or they refuse to answer threaten them with a mind-meld. That usually has them talking in a bloody hurry. Everybody with even mildly xenophobic views is to be reported."

"Aye, Sir," Taylor acknowledged and immediately started to assign people to teams.

"T'Pol, you and I will pay a visit to an old friend. Hoshi will do a number on your eyebrows and Krelik has fashioned a hijab for you. We're going down disguised as an Arab couple. I'll have Krelik nail a fake beard to my face. We'll meet in Feezals office in 30 minutes for the skin tanning."

T'Pol acknowledged with a nod and left with Hoshi.

"And I'm here for what?" Trip asked.

"You will do what the pips on your shoulders say, mate," Malcolm said. "You'll be the captain of both ships and will coordinate the operation. Hoshi has setup an office on Buran with secure communication lines to all teams and Starfleet Headquarters. She'll support you on it. Trust me, you'll be busy enough."

Malcolm handed Trip a couple of PADDs with the operation details.

"Meet up with Hoshi, after she's done turning your wife into Sheherazade."

=/\=

Malcolm and T'Pol were sitting in their underwear in the decon chamber as the radiation in cooperation with a white paste. the ingredients of which they had avoided to ask about, started to darken the tone of their skin to make them look more convincingly like people from the middle east region.

"Is something wrong, Malcolm?" T'Pol asked when she noticed Malcolm's disbelieving look.

"I didn't know you've taken to wearing a bikini for underwear," Malcolm stated with a chuckle.

"I usually do not," she admitted. "But I want to prepare a surprise for Trip. When Hoshi and I were acquiring a sun tan on Vulcan, we did so without clothing of course, but at the time Trip imagined me with what he calls tan lines in his sleep. I decided that this temporary change in skin tone will provide him with the opportunity to find out if he finds them agreeable on the live subject. This bikini provides a much more aesthetically agreeable pattern than my normal underwear."

With a raised eyebrow she watched Malcolm almost falling down in laughter.

"Who would've thought that two years ago," Malcolm said still cackling. "You decide to fulfill one of Trip's fantasies, which means at some point you'll surprise him in your birthday suit. And you talk about it as if it is the most Vulcan thing in the world."

"People change, Malcolm," she said. "Two years ago you wouldn't have spoken to me if duty didn't require it, much less about private matters and you certainly wouldn't have been comfortable with me in the decon chamber."

"That's true," Malcolm admitted, suddenly turning serious. "I must admit I can't understand how you and Hoshi can even think about such things at a time like this. I mean Hoshi waited for me stark naked in our quarters and you make plans for giving Trip a hot surprise. But as much as I wanted to enjoy my time with Hoshi that night, I couldn't put that before planning our work. Someone tried to kill you for Pete's sake."

"These may be trying times, but Trip and I refuse to lose our private life over it. It is the nature of war that every day may be our last. Before we found out that Trip's aging process has been altered, I had surrendered to the knowledge that I would survive my beloved by sixty years or more. I decided to use every day I have him by my side, rather than bemoaning those days when he will be gone. The fact that we now may have similar lifespans doesn't change that decision."

"Well, Hoshi does have that problem now," Malcolm said wistfully.

"Possibly," T'Pol agreed. "The more important it is, that you don't waste the days you have with her. As early as tomorrow our ships could fall victim to a Romulan attack and our lives could come to a premature end. There is no logic in reducing our life solely to duty while we still have it. It took me a long time to learn that."

"I never thought I'd hear such a pep talk from a Vulcan," Malcolm said with a smile. "But like always you make perfect sense. I just hope Hoshi likes men with beards."

"Will you keep it?" T'Pol asked.

"Only as long as our skin needs to revert back to its original tone, means a week or so," Malcolm explained. "If I took it off, I would have tan lines on my face and those don't look sexy. They look ridiculous."

=/\=

The pair entered a dark alley. The recent rain had left the ground soaking wet and the few street lights reflected in the puddles. Steam emanated lazily from a manhole cover, making the surroundings look like the set of a third-rate spy flick.

"It appears the setting of human spy movies are not a cliche," she commented.

"They are a cliche," Malcolm said. "But Harris always had a penchant for kitsch."

"That's quite a harsh verdict, Malcolm," a voice from the dark said and Harris, clad in a black leather jacket emerged from behind a pillar. "Nice camouflage, Captains. I see you've lost none of your ingenuity, Malcolm. It appears for once it is I, who needs help."

"I'd say you need more than that, if a single Admiral could bring the Section down," Malcolm snorted.

"He hasn't brought us down, but the bloody bastard makes our work almost impossible. And for good reason," Harris spat. "As soon as he noticed that we were on to his little secret, he started undermining our contacts within Starfleet. Do you really believe that Captain Williams had a stroke? The healthiest man in Starfleet?"

"Are you trying to say that Black had him liquidated?" Malcolm asked in disbelief.

"It's all on this chip," Harris said and handed him a memory disk. "It's encrypted with a double layered cipher made up from both of your old security codes."

"How can you know my old V'Shar clearance?" T'Pol asked with her eyebrow creeping up below the hood of her hijab.

"You don't expect me to give away my trade secrets, do you, Captain?" Harris asked in mock offense.

"I may have underestimated the effectiveness of your organization," T'Pol admitted and rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry, Captain," Harris said. "We are in a situation of mutual dependency. You need me to get information and I need you to omit some details about my past, so you've got nothing to be afraid of. All I want is to get Black out of the way, and trust me after reading the info I've given you, you want him gone, too."

"Alright, Harris, this skin job won't last forever. We meet here again in four days," Malcolm decreed, took T'Pol by the arm and they walked off.

=/\=

The next day T'Pol and Hoshi were sitting in the Reed quarters on Buran. Hoshi was carefully shaving the stubble of the regrowing up-swept part of T'Pol's eyebrows. Since the camouflage would be needed again in three days time, they had decided to keep the illusion of human style eyebrows intact, but it needed daily renewal. They met everyday after the shift anyway as T'Pol had decided to administer neuropressure therapy to alleviate the headaches Hoshi still suffered from as a result of her massive concussion courtesy of the Battle of Betazed. Since she was also determined to teach the art to Hoshi, both were still topless and the viewport shades were down to avoid inquisitive looks from outside.

Although their husbands were well acquainted to the view of each others wives in less than complete attire, Hoshi had decreed that the guys were banished from the spectacle, as she suspected the boys could become a little too frisky at the view of two half-naked females giving each other backrubs.

Not that Trip and Malcolm minded much. It gave them time to catch up on 'blokey things' as Malcolm put it, without having eyebrows raised at them if they helped themselves to a third mug of beer.

"So, don't let me burst from curiosity. How did he react?" Hoshi demanded, dabbing away at the freshly removed half of T'Pol's right eyebrow.

"Enthusiastic would be an appropriate description," T'Pol answered and resisted the urge to raise the brow Hoshi was currently working on.

"I can imagine that," Hoshi said with a giggle. "Guess you'll have to keep the bikini on next time we go sun-tanning on Vulcan."

"I doubt that," T'Pol said. "The novelty value of the tan lines will wear off quickly and I doubt Trip prefers them over catching a view of me without the garment."

"They're so easy to please aren't they," Hoshi said, still giggling.

"Indeed," T'Pol said.

"Speaking of enthusiastic. I have no idea what got into Malcolm last night. He practically ripped the clothes off me and went to town."

"I doubt he had much to 'rip off'," T'Pol replied deadpan.

"Guilty as charged," Hoshi admitted with a burst of laughter. "I've waited a long time for him to let his hair down. Could you perhaps have anything to do with it?"

"If you mean to insinuate that I have somehow aroused his desire, no. But we did have a conversation yesterday during which I impressed on him that he mustn't let duty and the war become the all-encompassing focus of his life. We don't know which day could be our last."

"Well thanks heavens," Hoshi said. "I've been trying for ages to make him understand that. Between the two of us we'll make real husbands out of them."

"So do we leave them in the belief that we wear little clothing in our homes for their enjoyment?" T'Pol asked drily.

"Exactly," Hoshi said with a laugh, while T'Pol raised a freshly remodeled eyebrow.

=/\=

"What's on the disk?" Trip asked and put the two mugs before them.

"I'd say the equivalent of a mighty bomb," Malcolm answered. "Harris had three undercover agents in 'Humanity First'. One of them made it into the inner circle. Now all three agents are dead."

"And that means?"

"Admiral Roger Black is not only a member of 'Humanity First', he's number two in the hierarchy."

"Son of a bitch!" Trip swore. "And that bastard was in charge of Starfleet Security. Does Gardner know?"

"He does now," Malcolm said. "And I'm not going to repeat his reaction. It certainly wasn't fit to print."

"What are they planning to do now?"

"Nothing. I got carte blanche from Gardner. If it came out that a Starfleet Admiral was involved with Terra Prime and this new group, it would be a disaster for the war effort."

"I'm not going to like what you have in mind, don't I?"

"Neither do I, Trip, but there's no other chance and better I do it than someone, who can't cope with it afterward."

"But what would you achieve if you off the guy," Trip reasoned. "There are others, who can make the connection."

"There won't be," Malcolm said darkly. "Terra Prime and this new gang are or were highly secretive organizations. People only knew their direct superior. That means except for the head honcho and the third in the hierarchy nobody knew about Black's involvement."

"And I suppose all three will happen to have accidents very soon."

"Tragic, isn't it."

"Do you know who they are?"

"Mr. Big is Ernest Strongfellow jr.," Malcolm said.

"The CEO of Advanced Propulsion Inc.?" Trip asked in shock. "The guys who were contracted to develop the Warp 7 prototype?"

"Now you know why they made so little progress," Malcolm snorted and emptied his mug.

"And the third?"

"Yurij Tarassov, a cryptography expert from Russia," Malcolm replied. "He was responsible for infiltration of Starfleet communications."

"Well won't they have caught your transmission to Gardner?" Trip noted.

"Only if they have the standard ciphers of the Gorn Hegemony," Malcolm replied.

"What is the Gorn Hegemony?"

"Trust me Trip, you don't want to know," Malcolm said drily and indicated for a refill.

=/\=

"I take it you have reviewed the information," Harris said when Malcolm and T'Pol met him three days later.

"Harris, how could you have been caught with your britches down like that?" Malcolm said with a disgusted tone. "Ten years ago that wouldn't have happened."

"Well, for a start they don't make 'em like you anymore, Malcolm. All the kids these days think of is becoming James Bond, cruising around in a glitzy hovercar and shagging everything in a skirt. But when it comes to the dirty work, they baulk on us. Last year half the lot failed the entrance exam. And Black had almost a year to undermine our contacts before we uncovered him and that only happened because Falkner did the job himself."

"You reactivated Falkner?"

"Hardly; but he owed me a favor and I cashed in," Harris replied innocently.

"Well, you better see that you find better recruits, because it is the last time I'm doing the dirty work for you, Harris. I'm no longer the guy I was ten years ago."

"Ah, the lovely Hoshi Sato. I would never have thought that a woman could tame you," Harris taunted and before he knew it, he was pinned to the wall with his collar in the firm grip of Malcolm.

"Listen scumbag," Malcolm growled. "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it because people, who mean a lot to me are threatened. I thought I had left washing your dirty laundry behind me, but I'm returning to it one last time to protect those who are dear to me. I'll even help you getting your shady bunch back on track. But when this is over, you'll stay the bloody hell away from us or you'll curse the day your old man shagged your mother."

"You really have changed, Malcolm," Harris said with a hint of disappointment.

"Thanks for the data, but from here on, we'll handle it ourselves. You will know when to take over," Malcolm said and walked off with T'Pol.

=/\=

"Was such a confrontational manner necessary," T'Pol asked as they walked through a park. At this time of the night it was almost deserted.

"He needs to be put in his place," Malcolm insisted. "I bet you anything that he was already drawing up plans how to recruit me back into the section."

"But you endangered our source of information. I doubt that he will be willing to share information after you have threatened him."

"When we have gotten him back into business, he'll owe us big time," Malcolm explained. "When it comes to cashing in favors or owing them Harris is even more anal about it than Shran. That's probably the only redeeming feature of the man."

"I have to trust your judgment," T'Pol conceded. "He can be a vital source in the future."

"He will be, don't worry," he assured her. "I need you to take cryptography lessons from Hoshi. When we are done with the distasteful part of the job, we need to break into a few computer systems."

"Will it not be easier to include Hoshi in the mission? She is aware of it regardless."

"T'Pol, Hoshi knowing that I go away to kill someone is one thing, seeing me actually do it is a different matter. Not all of them will die a nice death. You and me have experience with what undercover operations mean – Hoshi has not. I refuse to drag her into it, especially since it is the last time I'm doing it."

"Understood," T'Pol acceded. "Unless we complete the mission within the next two days, shouldn't we renew our disguise?"

"Nope," Malcolm said. "We'll have to change it. I don't want to take the chance that they are keeping tabs on Harris. If so they know our cover by now. And before you get ideas again, this time Trip will hate me for it," he added with a mischievous grin.

A raised eyebrow inquired for more data.

"You'll have to wear a wig, but for that to sit properly, you'll have to shave your head and I doubt Trip will like that."

"I suppose you will have to make a similar sacrifice," T'Pol remarked drily.

"I already did," Malcolm cackled. "Hoshi can't wait until this beard comes off. She says she feels like a schoolgirl shagging the teacher."

"Interesting analogy," T'Pol replied and raised the 'brow of substantial amusement'.

=/\=

"Do they just continue like that?" the com sounded.

"It looks like it," Roger Black . "We have to lay low for a while. Reed arrived a week ago and his people are giving the station an enema. Are you sure our people didn't leave any traces?"

"Seeing as they are no longer alive..."

"This group was supposed to be about saving Humanity, not decimating it," Black seethed.

"Would you rather be found out?" the cynical voice asked back. "It was either them our us. Or do you think your Starfleet would put us on trial if they found out. They can't afford the scandal. If you want a chance to fuck that secretary bitch of yours again, you better disappear for a while."

"What about Tarassov and the others?"

"Tarassov is in hiding for now. His contact to the group suffered a tragic mishap while climbing El Capitan. The rest of the group is in a training camp. We need people, who get the job done and we're teaching them how."

"Did you send me the data?" Black asked the voice.

"It's all on your PADD, usual encryption. Now see to it that you disappear for a while, but not too conspicuously."